July 21 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump'sadministration will pause its enforcement of a new rule barringfederally funded family planning clinics from referring womenfor abortions, the Washington Post reported late on Saturday.
The rule had been announced last Monday, when officials saidit would take immediate effect. The reversal was announced onSaturday evening by U.S. Health and Human Services Departmentofficials, who informed clinics that they would now have twomonths to comply before facing penalties, the Post reported.
Trump, who says he opposes abortions in most cases, hasjoined many of his fellow Republicans in seeking to curtailaccess to legal abortions. Many doctors and rights groups arefighting these efforts as harmful to women's health and inbreach of a constitutional right to abortion.
A federal appeals court cleared the way for the move earlierthis year, ruling that the administration could cut off Title Xsubsidies of reproductive healthcare and family planning costsfor low-income women at clinics that refer patients to abortionproviders.
The rule was intended to help Trump fulfill his 2016campaign pledge to end federal support for Planned Parenthood, anon-profit group that runs about 600 healthcare clinics aroundthe country and receives an estimated one-fifth of all Title Xfunds.
Planned Parenthood has condemned the rule, saying itsilences doctors and nurses and would harm their patients'health.
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, said this weekthat his state would defy the rule by refusing all Title Xfunding from the federal government, replacing those funds withstate money.
(Reporting by Jonathan Allen; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)