Close ties between the administration and a prominent conservative think tank correlate with several Trump administration health policy decisions, according to new information from a liberal government watchdog group shared exclusively with CQ Roll Call.
The 35-page Equity Forward report says that The Heritage Foundation’s influence plays a large role in decisions related to abortion, fetal tissue research, contraception and protections for same-sex couples.
Think tanks that support an administration are known to yield influence over policy decisions, but Equity Forward calls the ties with The Heritage Foundation “alarming” because the organization says Heritage is succeeding in securing policy decisions that contradict HHS’ intended mission.
A separate 2018 report by the Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program of the Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania found that The Heritage Foundation ranked as the think tank with the most significant impact on public policy and the top U.S. think tank to watch in 2019.
Here is a link to Equity Forward's new report and here is a press release about it.
Here is an Equity Forward link that takes you directly to Heritage Foundation's ties to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
