A Missouri nonprofit that coordinated Title X federal family planning services in Oklahoma after the state lost its funding has had its Title X dollars restored following a three-month delay.
What happened to Oklahoma’s Title X funding?
In April, the Trump administration withheld tens of millions in Title X dollars from Planned Parenthood and other health care providers. Clinics participating in Title X programs offer confidential and low-cost family planning resources for all ages, including contraceptives, counseling and pregnancy testing.
The Oklahoma State Department of Health had received this funding since 1971 but lost it in 2023 after it refused to meet one of the grant’s requirements to provide counseling to pregnant people on all options, including abortion if a patient requests it.
The Missouri Family Health Council received funding to coordinate Oklahoma’s Title X services alongside Missouri’s. It went to support services in Oklahoma's Planned Parenthood health centers and through Oklahoma nonprofit Take Control Initiative, which received some funding for rural access to pregnancy and STI prevention. An additional goal was to build clinic capacity among other providers.
The Missouri Family Health Council announced April 1 it was among multiple grantees to have Title X funding withheld by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. On the same day, the Oklahoma State Department of Health received an award of $1.96 million in Title X funding.
Missouri nonprofit sees funding restored
On Wednesday, the Missouri Family Health Council announced its funding had also been restored. It received around $8 million, which covers both states and is about a 7% reduction, said Executive Director Michelle Trupiano.
Although no disruption in care occurred, Trupiano said the past three months were stressful for the council’s team and health centers relying on this funding.
“We were about to have to make some really tough decisions, because that funding was about to end, in terms of the emergency funding,” Trupiano said. “We are very relieved that this funding has been restored and that services can continue with no disruption in care.”
A statement from the Department of Health and Human Services made to the Washington Post in April said the funding was being withheld from organizations while it investigated “possible violations of their grant terms.” Trupiano said the Missouri Family Health Council is one of four grantees that had their funding restored, while others received letters saying they needed to provide additional information.
She said the council submitted its information and heard nothing from the federal government until Wednesday’s notice.
“We didn't know why our funding was held to begin with, and we don't really know why it has been restored when others have not been restored,” Trupiano said. "But we are very thankful and relieved."
Trupiano said this funding restoration means its health centers don’t have to reduce services or lay off staff. Instead, they can focus on how they’re going to meet their communities’ needs.
“In states where there [are] already health care deserts and difficult access to care across the board, Title X is a crucial piece of the safety net that people know where they can go to access quality care in a safe and non-judgmental space,” Trupiano said.
Trupianao said Title X has become a “political football” and continues to be underfunded.
“So not only do we need to sustain the current funding, we actually need to build a program that is fully funded so that all people, regardless of zip codes and insurance status, can truly have meaningful access to care,” Trupiano said.
An update on Oklahoma’s Title X litigation
Oklahoma is still pursuing a lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human Services, challenging its loss of Title X funding in 2023. The case made it to the U.S. Supreme Court last year. There, the state's request for an emergency order to stop the Biden Administration from blocking its federal family planning money was rejected in September.
In October, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond asked the Supreme Court to review a U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit decision that said Oklahoma isn’t entitled to federal family planning money it lost.
In a press release Monday, Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond praised the Supreme Court’s decision in Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic.
The court ruled that a South Carolina woman and Planned Parenthood don’t have a legal right to bring a lawsuit challenging South Carolina's decision to exclude Planned Parenthood from the state’s Medicaid program based on the organization’s provision of abortions. Drummond said in the release this ruling will impact the reconsideration of Oklahoma’s Title X case.
A spokesperson from the attorney general’s office said in an email to StateImpact the Supreme Court issued a grant, vacate, remand order. This vacates the federal appeals court ruling and sends the case back to that court for additional proceedings.
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