For more than 50 years, the federal government has funded grants to non-profit organizations that provide family planning and reproductive health care, primarily to low-income people. Known as “Title X,” the program provides access to effective contraceptive methods, cancer screenings, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted illnesses, and other preventive services through a nationwide network of clinics that are the only source of health care for millions of people.
Grantees expected to receive their annual grants on April 1, 2025. On March 31, the Department of Health and Human Services sent letters to grantees in 22 states, informing than that their grants were being withheld because of “possible violation” of the terms of their grants. What were the suspected violations? Statements they had made expressing support for diversity, equity, and inclusion, and suggestions that they provided care for undocumented immigrants. More than $65 million was withheld.
On April 24, we filed this lawsuit, together with the National ACLU, on behalf of the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association, an umbrella group whose members operate or administer more than 3,000 health centers that provide Title X family planning services to more than 2.2 million patients each year. We challenge the funding cut-off on the ground that it violates the law governing federal grants and the Department of Health and Human Services’ own regulations in multiple ways. Primarily, the regulations allow funding to be withheld only after HHS has made a finding that a grantee has violated the terms of its grant, after providing notice and conducting factfinding and an opportunity to cure. So withholding funds on mere suspicion is improper. Additionally, existing regulations require grantees to “[p]rovide services in a manner that is client-centered, culturally and linguistically appropriate, inclusive, and trauma-informed” and to “[p]romote continued participation in the project by diverse persons to whom family planning services may be beneficial.” Grantees cannot be faulted for following the regulations that are still on the books; they were required to do so.
The lawsuit asks the court to declare that the government has violated the statutes and regulations governing the Title X program and to prohibit the government from continuing to withhold funds without having first provided grantees with notice of possible violations and an opportunity to undertake any necessary voluntary corrective action, and without having first made an evidence-based determination that they are violating (or have violated) the law or the terms of their grants.
