The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has issued a statement regarding Trump’s gag rule on abortion. “The proposal would not bar non-directive counseling on abortion, but would prohibit referral for abortion as a method of family planning,” the statement reads.

This would prohibit health-care providers that offer abortions from receiving federal grant funding, such as Planned Parenthood, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and Physicians for Reproductive Health. It will also prevent doctors from revealing the full scope of medical options available to patients who do not want to continue with their pregnancy. This action also has a global ramifications, as it “prevents foreign organizations that receive U.S. aid from even mentioning abortion“.

Under the guise of improving women’s health care, Trump’s imposition of the rule has led to the closing of women’s health clinics to rise, which will evidently lead to higher maternal mortality rates. But this issue isn’t just about abortion. It involves the undermining of medical ethics, forcing doctors to lie to patients, and the loss of healthcare for many women who live in low-income communities. Women’s health clinics don’t only involve abortion, but provide other necessary services such as gynecology services, maternity services, among many others.

Trump is taking away basic healthcare from women who need but can’t afford it. Conservatives believe in limited government, but all of their laissez faire principles suddenly disappear when it comes to interfering with women’s healthcare options and it suddenly reappears when they refuse to aid low-income communities and impose reasonable gun control. Gag rule aside, regardless of your personal religious beliefs, every woman in this country deserves the right to choose which healthcare option they pursue, and our federal government and Trump’s minuscule hands have no place meddling with it.