Duckworth, Durbin Join Colleagues in Demanding HHS Restore Title X Family Planning Funding Immediately to Protect Health Care Services for Millions
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Today, U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) joined U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-HI), Tina Smith (D-MN), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) and other Senate Democratic colleagues in urging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to immediately reinstate Title X family planning funding in 23 states after the agency began withholding grants that support basic health care for approximately one million people.
“We are alarmed at the Trump administration’s attacks against providers that enable access to health care for low-income and uninsured people,” the Senators wrote in a letter to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. “We urge you to swiftly reinstate funding to avoid extended gaps in service for vulnerable communities who rely on Title X funded health centers and programs.”
Title X is the nation’s only dedicated source of federal funding for family planning. In 2023, the program supported health care services for 2.8 million people at nearly 4,000 clinics across all 50 states and U.S. territories. These clinics provide cancer screenings, sexually transmitted infections testing and treatment, contraception and pregnancy-related care—regardless of a patient’s ability to pay. On April 1, the Trump Administration began withholding all, most, or a substantial portion of Title X funds across 23 states, including Illinois. The move threatens 23 percent of the entire Title X network.
“These interruptions will be widely felt in our communities and exacerbate the country’s maternal health crisis,” the Senators wrote. “By withholding critical appropriated funds, you are impeding access to essential health care services in rural and underserved areas, risking providers closing their doors, and jeopardizing working families’ lives and livelihoods.”
The Senators demanded the administration reverse course before more irreparable harm is done.
California, Hawai‘i, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana and Utah are currently receiving no family planning dollars. Meanwhile, Alaska, Connecticut, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia are experiencing reduced access to Title X-funded services.
Along with Duckworth, Durbin, Schatz, Smith, Schiff and Hirono, the letter was also co-signed by U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and U.S. Senators Angus King (I-ME), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Mark Warner (D-VA), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Patty Murray (D-WA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Jack Reed (D-RI), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) and Ben Ray Luján (D-NM).
Full text of the letter is available on Senator Duckworth’s website and below:
Dear Secretary Kennedy:
We write with great concern regarding the withholding of Title X family planning funding, impacting approximately one million patients in 23 states. We are alarmed at the Trump administration’s attacks against providers that enable access to health care for low-income and uninsured people. We urge you to swiftly reinstate funding to avoid extended gaps in service for vulnerable communities who rely on Title X funded health centers and programs.
For the past 55 years, Title X has served as the nation’s only dedicated, federally-funded family planning program. It provides lifelines to essential health care, including cancer screenings, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, contraceptive services and supplies, pregnancy testing, and more. Importantly, Title X providers offer care to all people, regardless of their ability to pay. In fact, 60 percent of patients seeking care at Title X funded health centers have incomes below 101 percent of the federal poverty level and receive care at no cost. Altogether, in 2023, Title X supported health care services for 2.8 million patients at 3,853 health centers across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. territories. Freezing Title X funds puts millions at risk of losing basic health services and screenings. A 2024 report from the HHS Office of Population Affairs determined that there “remains a significant need for publicly funded programs to provide free or subsidized sexual and reproductive health [SRH] services.”
Despite its vast impact, on April 1, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services began withholding all, most, or a substantial portion of Title X funding in 23 states, and all other grantees received partial awards. These states span from coast to coast and the non-contiguous states, covering nearly a quarter of the nation’s Title X network. You have entirely cut access to Title X family planning services for California, Hawaii, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, and Utah; and your agency is making significant cuts to Title-X funded services in Alaska, Connecticut, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. All other grantees have received partial funding which significantly constrains planned staffing and service delivery this performance year.
The notifications were premised on specious arguments and contain unreasonable deadlines given the hundreds of health centers that must be surveyed in order to respond to this politically motivated inquiry. Though the administration has explicitly targeted specific providers like Planned Parenthood affiliates, it also included a varied group of nonprofit state and regional grantees.
These interruptions will be widely felt in our communities and exacerbate the country’s maternal health crisis, particularly in the context of health center closures and restrictive state policies that impact access to reproductive care. By withholding critical appropriated funds, you are impeding access to essential health care services in rural and underserved areas, risking providers closing their doors, and jeopardizing working families’ lives and livelihoods. We request that you expeditiously release funding to Title X grantees in the 23 impacted states before you cause irreparable harm.
Sincerely,
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