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Laura Trueman

Deputy Director, Office of Intergovernmental and External Affairs

Laura Trueman is a former congressional staffer, Heritage Foundation employee and lobbyist who is outspoken about her anti-abortion views. Early in her career, Trueman worked on the Reagan administration’s Adolescent Family Planning Program, which was created to serve as an anti-abortion, abstinence-focused alternative to Title X. After fifteen years out of the workforce, she spent five years as a healthcare lobbyist. She then joined the Heritage Foundation, an anti-abortion think tank, where she was director of operations for the organization’s healthcare team. She left to serve as House Majority Whip Steve Scalise’s policy advisor and liaison to conservative groups. She is married to prominent anti-abortion attorney Patrick Trueman.

HOW THEIR ROLE AFFECTS ACCESS TO REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH

The Office of Intergovernmental and External Affairs (IEA) serves as the link between the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the state, local, tribal and non-governmental entities served and affected by its programs, policies and initiatives. The office advises HHS on local perspectives, helps to coordinate and implement initiatives at the local level, facilitates communication between HHS and local entities and coordinates HHS’s ten regional offices.

As Deputy Director of Intergovernmental and External Affairs, Trueman is in a position to influence the level of efficiency and priority with which HHS family planning and reproductive health programs, policies and initiatives are shaped, communicated and implemented.

PREVIOUS EMPLOYMENT OF NOTE

Senior Policy Advisor and Conservative Coalitions Coordinator to House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, 5/2015 – 1/2017

Director of Strategic Operations for the Heritage Foundation’s Healthcare and Entitlement teams, 4/2009 – 5/2015

Director, HHS Office of Adolescent Pregnancy Programs, 1987 – 1988

Director, HHS U.S. Public Health Service Office of Communications, 1986 – 1987

TIES TO OTHER ANTI-CHOICE EXTREMISTS

The Heritage Foundation:

Trueman worked at The Heritage Foundation through the majority of the Obama administration as the director of strategic operations for its healthcare and entitlement teams. The Foundation consistently takes extremist, anti-abortion positions on reproductive rights; while Trueman worked there, it heavily criticized the Affordable Care Act for giving women reproductive health care coverage. Since then, The Heritage Foundation has been credited with “stocking Trump’s government” with people including extremist Roger Severino — head of the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and Heritage alum.

Americans United For Life:

Trueman’s husband Patrick Trueman served as the first executive director and general counsel of the anti-abortion legal organization Americans United for Life (AUL). AUL describes its mission as “preventing the passage and implementation of laws permitting or expanding abortion, and pursuing regulations that are protective of the unborn.” In 2010, Laura Trueman attended an AUL event to “honor [House] Leader John Boehner's acceptance of the Henry Hyde Defender of Life Award for his steadfast efforts to restrict federal funding of abortion during the debate over Obamacare.”

HIGHLIGHTS

Trueman Wrote That “Lack Of Sexual Restraint And Fidelity” Is A Greater “Threat” To Women Than Pay Inequality:

Ultimately, our daughters’ well-being is intricately bound up in the country’s well-being. In that realm, it’s not pay equity that represents the greatest threat. It’s a constellation of issues, including national indebtedness, declining faith, devaluation of family, lack of sexual restraint and fidelity, the breakdown of marriage, children being reared without the presence of both a mother and father in the home, and education policies that are not equipping children for success.”

Trueman Liked The Facebook Page Of The President And CEO Of Concerned Women For America:

Trueman liked the Facebook page of Penny Young Nance, the president and CEO of the anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ extremist group Concerned Women for America. 

Trueman Volunteers At Hope Of Virginia Crisis Pregnancy Center

[Laura Trueman resume/American Oversight]

Trueman Is Married To Prominent Anti-Abortion Lawyer Patrick Trueman:

Laura Trueman’s husband, Patrick, is a lawyer who has been doing anti-abortion work since 1976, when he became Executive Director and General Counsel of Americans United for Life, a position he held until 1982. He spent nearly ten years as director of government affairs at the anti-choice, anti-LGBTQ American Family Association. After that, he worked for another anti-choice, anti-LGBTQ group, the Family Research Council. He is now CEO and president of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (formerly Morality in Media), an anti-pornography organization.

THE WHOLE STORY

Laura Trueman Is Vocal About Her Anti-Abortion Views

Trueman Tweeted About The “Tragedy” Of “Aborted Babies” And The Need To Defend “The Right To Life”

During Hillary Clinton’s 2016 DNC Speech, Trueman Tweeted: “Hillary: ‘We Will Defend All Of Our Rights,,,’. Just Not The Right To Life.” [Laura Trueman/Twitter, 7/28/16]

During President Obama’s 2016 State Of The Union Speech, Trueman Tweeted: “Could He Start By Standing Up For The 58 Million Aborted Babies?” [Laura Trueman/Twitter, 1/12/16]

Trueman Tweeted: “60 Million Babies Have Been Aborted Since Roe V Wade In 1973. Tragedy.” [Laura Trueman/Twitter, 1/13/16]

Trueman Has Tweeted Approvingly About Several Anti-Abortion Extremists, Including Discredited Zealot David Daleiden

Trueman Tweeted A Photo Of Center For Medical Progress Founder David Daleiden Receiving A Family Research Council Award. “FRC awards David Dalidean with CMP pro-life digital award of the year #pro-life” [Laura Trueman/Twitter, 1/22/16]

  • Daleiden Is Known For Illegally Filming And Releasing Misleading Videos Targeting Planned Parenthood. [Reuters, 4/2/18]

Trueman Tweeted A Photo Of Chuck Donovan Addressing A Heritage Foundation Event; Donovan Is President Of The Charlotte Lozier Institute, An Anti-Abortion Extremist Organization. “'The American people never asked for unrestricted abortion, it was foisted on us by the courts.’ #Opp4All” [Laura Trueman/Twitter, 1/13/15]

Trueman Tweeted A Photo Of Paul Isaacs Addressing A Heritage Foundation Event. “Paul Isaacs says it is essential to tell the stories of women who found the courage to not abort. @Heritage” [Laura Trueman/Twitter, 9/30/14]

  • Isaacs Is The Founder Of Save The Storks, A Group That Attempts To Convince Women Entering Abortion Clinics Not To Terminate Their Pregnancies. [LifeNews.com, 10/9/14]

Trueman Tweeted A Photo Of SBA List President List Marjorie Dannenfelser With Republican Leadership After They Blocked Merrill Garland’s Appointment To The Supreme Court. [Laura Trueman/Twitter, 11/6/18]

Using The Hashtag #NoAbortionCoercion, Trueman Tweeted About Her Support For So-Called Conscience Laws…

Trueman Believes No Healthcare Provider Should Have To “Violate” Their Beliefs To Perform Abortions. “No dr or nurse should be forced to violate their medical, moral, or religious conscience to perform abortion. #NoAbortionCoercion” [Laura Trueman/Twitter, 7/8/16]

Trueman Made An Unsubstantiated Claim That Students Aren’t Becoming OB-GYNs Because They Don’t Want To Perform Abortions. “Med students r avoiding OB-GYN track because they don't want to train in abortion. 85% of OB-GYNs don't perform abortion.#NoAbortionCoercion” [Laura Trueman/Twitter, 7/8/16]

…Which Trump’s Health Department Are Working To Put In Effect

HHS Created A Special Division To Address So-Called “Conscience Protection” Claims By Healthcare Providers Who Want To Discriminate Against Certain Patients And Certain Procedures. “The Trump administration on Thursday will announce an overhaul of the HHS civil rights office as part of a broader plan to protect health workers who don't want to perform abortions, treat transgender patients seeking to transition or provide other services for which they have religious or moral objections. Under a proposed rule — which has been closely guarded at HHS and is now under review by the White House — the civil rights office would be empowered to further shield these workers and punish organizations that don’t allow them to express their religious and moral objections, according to sources on and off the Hill. That would be a significant shift for the office, which currently focuses on enforcing federal civil rights and health care privacy laws.” [Politico, 1/16/18]

Trueman Served As A Top Aide To Anti-Abortion Representative And House Majority Whip Steve Scalise

Trueman Worked As House Majority Whip Steve Scalise’s Senior Policy Advisor And Conservative Coalitions Coordinator

In Addition To Advising Scalise On Policy, Trueman Was Responsible For “[Communicating] With The Full Panoply Of Conservative Groups — From Think Tanks And Academia To Grassroots Advocacy — Relaying Their Concerns To The Whip, Sharing His Priorities With Them, And Working To Unify Efforts To Advance Conservative Policies Through His Leadership Position.” [Laura Trueman resume/American Oversight]

While Laura Trueman Worked For Scalise, The Representative Called For Investigating And Defunding Planned Parenthood…

After The Anti-Abortion Extremist Organization The Center For Medical Progress Released Misleading Videos Targeting Planned Parenthood, Scalise Called For An Investigation. “Respect for life is not just a conservative value — it is an American value that unites us all. The gruesome practices described by a top Planned Parenthood official represent a disregard for human life that is completely unacceptable and has no place in our society. I urge my House colleagues on both sides of the aisle to aggressively investigate this matter so the American people can know the truth, to take action to hold the abortion industry accountable and to stop this horrifying practice." [Scalise.house.gov, 6/15/2015]

  • The Center For Medical Progress Released “Edited” Videos Allegedly Showing Planned Parenthood Officials Selling Fetal Tissue. “An antiabortion group on Tuesday released an undercover video of an official at Planned Parenthood discussing in graphic detail how to abort a fetus to preserve its organs for medical research — as well as the costs associated with sharing that tissue with scientists…The Center for Medical Progress, which recorded and edited the video, says the footage proves that Planned Parenthood is breaking the law by selling fetal organs. But the video does not show Nucatola explicitly talking about selling organs. The Planned Parenthood official says the organization is “very, very sensitive” about being perceived as illegally profiting from organ sales and charges only for the cost, for instance, of shipping the tissue.” [Washington Post, 7/14/15]

…But The Witch Hunting House Panel, Convened Because Of The “Heavily Doctored” Videos And Led By Now-HHS Official March Bell, Found Nothing

March Bell Spent $1.6 Million Investigating Planned Parenthood And Found Nothing. “In 2015, March Bell was Republican staff director and chief counsel for a House panel that investigated Planned Parenthood. The mission: to find out if Planned Parenthood, a system of more than 600 reproductive care clinics across the country, was profiting off donated fetal tissues. The investigation was kicked off by undercover videos from anti-abortion activists that were heavily doctored and edited. After 15 months of investigation and $1.6 million in taxpayer dollars, the Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives found no evidence of wrongdoing but nonetheless recommended that the National Institutes of Health stop funding Planned Parenthood.” [ProPublica, 7/31/18]

Scalise Also Called For Defunding Planned Parenthood

Scalise Voted To Defund Planned Parenthood Through The Women's Public Health and Safety Act, Which Would Have Given States The Ability To Exclude Organizations That Provide Abortions From Medicaid. “Today, House Republicans have taken action to give states like Louisiana the flexibility to cancel contracts with abortion providers under Medicaid and instead shift those dollars to health care facilities that do not perform elective abortions. The American people have been horrified by the actions of Planned Parenthood depicted in the recently released videos, and this legislation gives our nation’s governors the authority and flexibility to take direct action to stop these practices.” [Scalise.house.gov, 9/29/2015]

Scalise Endorsed The Conscience Protection Act. “Madam Speaker, it is so important that we pass the Conscience Protection Act. If you look at our Bill of Rights, our Constitution, and the framework that gives people all across this country true religious freedom, we recognize now that religious freedom is under attack. You don't need to look any further than the State of California which passed a law that really was the genesis for bringing this bill forward, because under the California law, it literally started forcing people to perform abortions against their own faith.” [GPO.gov, 7/13/2016]

  • The Conscience Protection Act Would Have Expanded Protections For Healthcare Providers Who Refused To Provide Services Like Abortion Because Of Religious Or Moral Objections “This week, the House will consider legislation to protect health care providers that decline to be involved in abortions as a matter of conscience. Introduced by Rep. Diane Black (R-TN), it’s called the Conscience Protection Act and here’s what you need to know about it. Why is the Conscience Protection Act so important? There is a law on the books known as the Weldon Amendment, which prevents the government from discriminating against hospitals, doctors, nurses, and insurance plans that decline to provide or pay for abortions. It is meant to guard against exactly what happened in California, where all employers — including churches — are now required to cover abortions.” [Speaker Paul Ryan Press Release, 7/12/16]

Trueman Worked At The Heritage Foundation, An Ultra-Conservative Think Tank

At The Heritage Foundation, Trueman Worked As A Director Of Strategic Operations; Her Responsibilities Included Propagating The Organization’s Preferred Healthcare Policies.

Trueman Worked On Health Reform And Entitlement Reform At Heritage. Trueman “Managed Cross-Departmental Teams Representing The Top Priority Issues For The [Heritage Foundation]: Health Reform [And] Budget, Taxes, Spending, & Entitlement Reform.” [LinkedIn, accessed 10/26/2018]

During Trueman’s Tenure, The Heritage Foundation Regularly Attacked Obamacare With Claims That The Law “Entangled Taxpayer Funds In Abortion Coverage” And Constituted An “Assault On Religious Liberty”

A Heritage Foundation Report Claimed That Obamacare Would “Force” Many Americans To “[Violate] Their Values By Directly Subsidizing Abortion Coverage.” “Obamacare will entangle taxpayer funds in abortion coverage offered on state and federal exchanges and could force many Americans to unwittingly pay a surcharge for elective abortion. This system could potentially place many Americans in an unwanted and unnecessary dilemma, forced to choose between violating their values by directly subsidizing abortion coverage or forfeiting the health care coverage that most closely meets their families’ unique needs.” [The Heritage Foundation, 11/21/2013]

A Heritage Foundation Report Claimed That Obamacare’s Birth Control Mandate Was “An Assault On Religious Liberty.” “The recent Health and Human Services (HHS) mandate for preventive services under President Obama’s health care law is an unprecedented assault on religious liberty. The mandate forces many religious employers to either contradict their faith by providing and paying for abortion-inducing drugs, contraception, and sterilization in violation of their deeply held beliefs or face federal penalties. The Obama Administration has effectively put a fine on faith. Because the health care law forces employers to provide and individuals to obtain health insurance that meets the government’s definition of ‘qualified’ health care, the HHS mandate and future federal benefits mandates like it are inescapable. Non-exempted employers—religious or not—are stripped of the choice to avoid the services mandated under Obamacare without facing penalties. To protect religious liberty and ensure the respect of individual freedom, the mandate must be rescinded and Obamacare must be repealed.” [The Heritage Foundation, 3/27/2012]

Trueman Worked On The Reagan Administration’s Adolescent Family Life Program, Which Was Created To Serve As An Anti-Abortion, Abstinence-Focused Alternative To Title X

Trueman Worked In On The Reagan Administration’s Adolescent Family Life Program

In Her Role At the Office Of Adolescent Pregnancy Programs, Trueman “Managed Multi-Million Dollar Grant-Making Program To Serve Teens.” [Laura Trueman resume/American Oversight]

The Adolescent Family Life Program Was Created To Serve As An Anti-Abortion, Abstinence-Focused Alternative To Title X

Title X Provides Funds, Birth Control, Preventative Healthcare, And Pregnancy And Abortion Counseling For Low-Income People. “One way that Title X puts into practice the principle of voluntary participation and ensures that a client is not pressured to accept a particular contraceptive method is by requiring that clinics offer clients a range of contraceptive methods and counseling services, including information about natural family planning. Title X requires that clients visiting clinics for contraceptive care be offered related preventive health services as well. As a result, the program regulations and official guidelines specify a wide range of services to be delivered to clients at Title X–supported clinics, including blood pressure evaluation, breast examinations, pelvic examinations, Pap tests, and sexually transmitted disease (STD) and HIV testing, as indicated. From its enactment in 1970, the Title X statute has explicitly prohibited using program monies to pay for abortion. However, the program regulations stipulate that a pregnant woman must be offered information and counseling about all of her options, ‘including prenatal care and delivery; infant care, foster care, or adoption; and pregnancy termination,’ and referrals upon request. For women facing an unintended pregnancy, such ‘nondirective counseling’ is intended to convey basic facts about all alternatives in a nonjudgmental manner, so that women can explore their options and decide which best suits their circumstances, values and needs.” [The Guttmacher Institute, 2/2001]

President Reagan Opposed Title X And Tried To “Defeat” The Program. “In fiscal 1982, Reagan proposed $125 million for family planning — a 23 percent cut. Congress went along, appropriating $124 million. In the next three years, the administration did not request any money expressly for the program but rather proposed to give states a ‘primary health care’ block grant they could use for a variety of purposes, including family planning. Congress refused to go along and continued to provide earmarked funding. For fiscal 1985 the program was given $143 million. Shortly after Reagan took office, he made clear he opposed Title X. ‘I regret we do not have the votes to defeat the Family Planning Program,’ he wrote in a letter to Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, R-Utah who had just become chairman of the Labor and Human Resources Committee, which had jurisdiction over family planning programs.” [CQ Almanac, 1984]

Created As An Alternative To Title X, The Adolescent Family Life Program “[Discouraged] Teenagers From Engaging In Sexual Activity, While Encouraging Those Who Did Become Pregnant To Carry Their Pregnancies To Term.” “There were two new federal initiatives related to abortion alternatives since 1981, neither proposed by the administration. One was the Adolescent Family Life Program proposed by Sen. Jeremiah Denton, R-Ala. Established in 1981, the program was spending nearly $15 million in fiscal 1985 on 59 demonstration projects to discourage teenagers from engaging in sexual activity, while encouraging those who did become pregnant to carry their pregnancies to term. No abortion counseling was allowed. But this provision, along with another that encouraged religious organizations to apply for grants, resulted in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the entire program.” [CQ Almanac, 1984]

…And Now The Trump Administration Is Carrying On That Legacy By Proposing Anti-Abortion Changes To Title X, The Nation’s Longstanding, Bipartisan Family Planning Program

The Trump Administration’s Proposed Changes Would Exclude Organizations That Provide Abortion Counseling From Those Receiving Title X Funding; The Changes Would Also Allow Organizations That Encourage “Natural Family Planning” Over Birth Control To Receive Title X Funding

New Guidelines Set Forth By Trump’s Health Department Would Forbid Title X Clinics From Give Information To A Patient About Abortion “Even Upon Request”  “Pointing to language in the 1970 law, the Trump administration said the proposed changes would ‘refocus’ Title X programs to ‘voluntary, preventive family planning services specifically designed to enable individuals to determine the number and spacing of their children.’ If the rule becomes law, staff at Title X clinics could no longer counsel, refer or give information to a patient about abortion, even upon request. Critics say this amounts to a ‘gag rule’ between physicians and patients, a label the White House has rejected. The federal government argued that those services fall outside the scope of Title X’s core mission of family planning. Title X funds will instead be used to monitor and enforce both the funding and operation of family planning services. Title X funds should not be used ‘for publicity and propaganda,’ according to the proposed rule. Also in the proposal: If an organization receives Title X funds while offering abortion services, it must maintain two separate facilities — one for Title X-qualifying services and another separate facility that would offer abortion, delivered by separate staff, under a different name, receiving no federal dollars. Faith-based organizations have been encouraged to apply for these funds, and a qualifying clinic could offer ‘natural family planning,’ such as tracking a woman’s ovulation cycle to determine fertile and infertile days, a method the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology says is less reliable than birth control pills, IUDs, implants or condoms.” [PBS News Hour, 7/31/2018]