The Trump administration is restoring millions of dollars in Title X funds to Oklahoma and Tennessee after the Biden administration chose to withhold those funds because both states failed to comply with program rules.
The news was first reported by Politico, but the Oklahoma State Department of Health confirmed to The Hill that the Trump administration has awarded it $1.96 million under the Title X family planning program. The total award amount could be more though, according to a department spokesperson.
The Tennessee Department of Health also confirmed that they received an award notice, but a spokesperson told The Hill in an e-mail that “it is too early to speculate on how the Department will obligate the funding.”
Title X is the country’s only federal program solely dedicated to providing birth control and reproductive health care to low-income Americans. In 2013, the program supported nearly 4,000 clinics that served almost 2.8 million people, according to health advocacy nonprofit KFF.
Tennessee and Oklahoma, both long-time Title X grantees, were disqualified from the program in 2023 after both departments refused to comply with a program rule that requires them to provide comprehensive pregnancy options counseling and abortion referrals for those who want them.
The states filed individual lawsuits against the Biden administration in response to being kicked out of the program, both of which were pending until yesterday when Oklahoma and Tennessee received award notices reference settlements in those cases, according to Clare Coleman, president and CEO of the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association (NFPRHA).
Neither state would have had the opportunity to apply for the program in the past year, making the Trump administration’s move surprising, Coleman said.
“The government did something that I have never seen before, which is make an award without an application and outside of a competitive cycle,” she said.
The Trump administration has the legal right to propose changing the rules around the Title X program, Coleman added, which they did in 2019. And it is unclear why the Trump administration is sidestepping the usual procedure to change the rules to the programs.
“I hope when we are able to see the settlement paperwork, it will become clear…is the US government saying to these two health departments you are allowed to ignore the law and you can have the money anyway?” she said.
The news comes a day after the Trump administration abruptly pulled Title X funding from 16 groups including 9 Planned Parenthood affiliates.
Now, there are at least seven states, including California, Hawaii, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana and Utah, that do not have a single Title X funded clinic or organization, according to the NFPRHA.
