162 House Democrats Urge HHS to Restore Title X Funds

Yahoo

03-04-2025

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services building is seen on March 27, 2025 in Washington, D.C. Credit - Kayla Bartkowski—Getty Images
More than 150 House Democrats signed a letter sent to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on April 3, calling for the department to undo the freeze on millions of dollars allocated for family planning services.
The letter, shared exclusively with TIME, comes after HHS confirmed this week that it is withholding Title X funds from 16 organizations 'pending an evaluation of possible violations' of federal civil rights laws and President Donald Trump's Executive Order declaring that undocumented immigrants are barred 'from obtaining most taxpayer-funded benefits.' Title X is the nation's only federally funded program dedicated solely to family planning, and each year allocates millions of dollars for clinics that provide birth control, cancer screenings, STI testing, and other health care services for people from low-income households. HHS did not respond to TIME's questions earlier this week about the details of the 'possible violations,' how much money was being withheld from the affected organizations, and which organizations were being hit by the funding freeze. It also did not respond to a further request for comment today, April 3.
More than $200 million is allocated for Title X annually. On March 25, the Wall Street Journal reported that HHS was considering freezing $27.5 million of those Title X funds. One of the largest Title X providers, Planned Parenthood, said on March 31 that nine of its affiliates were informed by the federal government that their Title X funding was being withheld as of April 1.
Read More: Trump Administration Freezes Critical Title X Funding for 16 Organizations
The letter sent to Kennedy on April 3 was an effort led by seven House Democrats: Rep. Judy Chu, California; Rep. Diana DeGette, Colorado; Rep. Ayanna Pressley, Massachusetts; Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández, New Mexico; Rep. Lizzie Fletcher, Texas; Rep. Sharice Davids, Kansas; and Rep. Nikema Williams, Georgia. The 162 House Democrats who signed it said in the letter that Title X has been 'a cornerstone of safety-net care' for decades.
'Championed by then-Congressman George H.W. Bush and signed into law by President Nixon, Title X allows a diverse network of providers to deliver high-quality care to low-income, uninsured, or underinsured individuals confidentially,' the letter said. 'These centers offer care to populations that often face severe structural and systemic barriers to accessing quality health care, including individuals with no or insufficient insurance and rural and underserved communities. Freezing funds for this essential program will harm communities that otherwise may not have access to care.'
According to the letter, Title X-funded clinics provided services to 2.8 million people in 2023. In 2016, 60% of the women who received birth control from a clinic participating in the Title X program revealed that that was their only source of health care the year before, according to the letter. The letter also cited a report from the Guttmacher Institute, which researches and supports sexual and reproductive health and rights, that found that every dollar spent on Title X services saves $7 in Medicaid-related expenses.
Reproductive rights experts have called the freeze 'absolutely devastating,' saying that Title X allows many people to access critical health care services they may not otherwise be able to afford. Experts at the Guttmacher Institute estimated that between 600,000 and 1.25 million people could be affected by the freeze annually.
In the letter, the signatories also said they were 'outraged that reports suggest that this funding is being frozen because of claims that it might support 'diversity, equity, and inclusion.''
Essential Access Health, which distributes Title X funds to health care centers in California and Hawaii, said in a press release on April 1 that it was informed that its Title X funds were being temporarily withheld pending 'an inquiry regarding compliance with federal policy and practices related to civil rights and Executive Orders focused on DEI activities.' Trump signed an Executive Order on his first day in office that was aimed at dismantling DEI initiatives.
'This is another way of saying that this program is used to help people of color access care,' the letter said. 'Nearly half of the people served each year by Title X are people of color, the vast majority are people with low-incomes and most Title X users are women. A federal program's ability to provide care to people from historically marginalized and underserved communities does not make it wrong or illegal. To suggest otherwise implies that HHS would determine who is worthy of taxpayer dollars based on the color of their skin.'
House Democrats who signed the letter urged Kennedy to restore all the Title X funding to the affected organizations, requesting a 'prompt reply to coordinate a meeting on this matter' and offering to introduce Kennedy to providers, community leaders, and patients who can speak to the importance of the federal program.
'We hope your agency will not be so reckless as to upend nearly half a century of bipartisan achievement and place Title X on the [Department of Government Efficiency] chopping block without hearing firsthand the consequences of that action,' the letter said.
Contact us at [e-mail].