Trump Tells Planned Parenthood Its Funding Can Stay if Abortion Goes

The White House, concerned about the possible political repercussions of the Republican effort to defund Planned Parenthood, has proposed preserving federal payments to the group if it discontinues providing abortions.

The proposal, which was never made formally, has been rejected as an impossibility by officials at Planned Parenthood, which receives about $500 million annually in federal funding. That money helps pay for women’s health services the organization provides, not for abortion services.

“Let’s be clear: Federal funds already do not pay for abortions,” Dawn Laguens, the executive vice president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said on Monday. “Offering money to Planned Parenthood to abandon our patients and our values is not a deal that we will ever accept. Providing critical health care services for millions of American women is nonnegotiable.”

But the outreach to allies of Planned Parenthood is a glimpse of the internal struggle inside a White House torn between trying to satisfy the conservative base that elected President Trump and responding to the views of his daughter Ivanka Trump, who urged her father to tread carefully on the Planned Parenthood issue during the Republican primary contest.

Ms. Trump has no formal role in the administration, but as an informal adviser she has made women’s issues a focus. She has had a mixed record of success in the administration’s early days, but during the campaign, she was able to nudge Mr. Trump toward a nuanced view of Planned Parenthood’s work.

Mr. Trump confirmed the discussions in a statement on Monday to The New York Times.

“As I said throughout the campaign, I am pro-life and I am deeply committed to investing in women’s health and plan to significantly increase federal funding in support of nonabortion services such as cancer screenings,” he said. “Polling shows the majority of Americans oppose public funding for abortion, even those who identify as pro-choice. There is an opportunity for organizations to continue the important work they do in support of women’s health, while not providing abortion services.”

Indeed, Mr. Trump made similar statements as a candidate, putting him at odds with other Republicans in a primary race characterized by conservative views.

In private discussions with people close to Planned Parenthood, White House officials have suggested that there could even be an increase in federal earmarks if the work related to abortion ends.

At various points during the campaign, Mr. Trump spoke favorably of the work of Planned Parenthood, even while saying he would support withdrawing its funding if abortions continued.

“Millions and millions of women — cervical cancer, breast cancer — are helped by Planned Parenthood,” he said in February 2016 at a debate hosted by CNN. “I would defund it because I’m pro-life, but millions of women are helped by Planned Parenthood.”

Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of the Susan B. Anthony List, which supports anti-abortion candidates, said Mr. Trump was living up to his campaign promise.

“We’re not used to that in politics,” she said. She added that she had no problem with the deal because her issue with Planned Parenthood is with its abortion work.

Until 2011, when he announced he opposed abortion rights, Mr. Trump had supported legal measures allowing abortions.

Congressional Republicans have said they will soon move legislation to strip all federal funds from Planned Parenthood, and a provision for doing that was included in the House Republican bill to replace the Affordable Care Act released on Monday night.

Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand, Democrat of New York, suggested that Mr. Trump had authorized the proposal because he wanted to be able to claim that he had made an offer to Planned Parenthood and that officials with the group were not being reasonable.

“The Trump administration needs to stop playing political games that would put access to the full range of safe reproductive care at risk, or they will get the fight of their lives,” Ms. Gillibrand said.

Diane Max, a major donor to Planned Parenthood, called the offer “an absurd play” and said Mr. Trump had been “sympathetic to a woman’s right to choose until it was politically unpopular” for him.