Trump administration restores millions of Title X money to Planned Parenthood

The Trump administration has restored millions of dollars in Title X grants to Planned Parenthood that it had been withholding since March of 2025.

Key Takeaways:

• The Trump administration has restored millions of dollars in Title X funding to Planned Parenthood and other reproductive businesses that had been "temporarily withheld" last spring.

• The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) withheld Title X grants from various recipients, totaling $65.8 million. Planned Parenthood was stripped of about $20 million.

• The ACLU filed a lawsuit on behalf of the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association, which represents Title X providers.

• Funding was slowly and quietly restored, and the final funds were restored in December. Following the restoration of all funds, the ACLU dropped the lawsuit.

• Planned Parenthood has failed to follow the requirements necessary to continue receiving federal funding under Medicaid and Title X, yet continues to receive taxpayer funding.

• Director of Government Affairs at CatholicVote, Tom McClusky, said that the government was likely to lose the lawsuit and therefore opted to restore the funding for now.

The Backstory:

In March, Title X funding was "temporarily withheld" from 865 reproductive facilities. A notice from the Trump administration at the time explained that these facilities had "possible violations" of federal civil rights law and Trump's executive orders, including his dismantling of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives and "taxpayer subsidization of open borders."

The loss of funding was intended to be temporary as an investigation was carried out.

According to POLITICO, Amy Margolis, the deputy director of The Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of Population Affairs, said it was believed that Planned Parenthood may have "engaged, across its affiliates, in widespread practices across hiring, operations, and patient treatment that unavoidably employ race in a negative manner.” The notice sent to Planned Parenthood affiliates stated that the abortion corporation “overtly encourages illegal aliens to receive care.”

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) withheld Title X grants totaling $65.8 million. Planned Parenthood was stripped of about $20 million.

As a result of the loss of funding, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on behalf of the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association (NFPRHA), which represents Title X providers, in April. The ACLU argued that the withholding of 22 federal Title X grants from Planned Parenthood and other reproductive businesses was illegal.

The Details:

All of the Title X funding has now been restored to Planned Parenthood and other businesses.

According to The Independent, the funding was slowly and quietly restored to the 865 reproductive facilities, with the last of the funding being restored in December. With all funding restored, the lawsuit has been dropped.

“Our lawsuit succeeded in holding the administration accountable for its unlawful acts, and today, NFPRHA members’ grants have been restored. We are relieved all of our members now have access to their promised funds, but we know the fight for contraceptive access in this country goes on,” said Clare Coleman, president & CEO of the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association, in a statement Tuesday. 

POLITICO noted:

... [I]n a court filing on Dec. 19, shared with POLITICO, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro told the court "the review is completed, and all grants at issue for Plaintiff's members have been restored.'"She provided no further details, but asked the challengers to consider whether "this matter can be voluntarily dismissed in light of the restoration of the remaining grants."

However, there may have been a deeper reason that the funding was restored. HHS may not have had much of a choice, according to Tom McClusky, a veteran pro-life operative and director of government affairs at CatholicVote. He told The Daily Signal:

They were virtually certain to lose the lawsuit, forcing them to repay the full amount plus interest and cover attorneys’ fees. Even worse, continuing the litigation would have entangled any future funding cuts—which are highly likely under the new regulations—in prolonged court battles before an unsympathetic judge.

He also said that none of this would have even happened if the administration had restored the Protect Life Rule, which ordered that organizations that refer for and encourage abortion can not get Title X funding. However, the Trump administration has yet to reinstate that rule since Trump took office again last year.

In addition, a former senior Trump administration official told The Daily Signal that restoring the funding now would put the administration in a better position to defund Planned Parenthood. The former official explained:

HHS was caught in a tough spot because the judge was almost certainly going to rule against them and they would have had to restore the funding under Biden era rules, possibly with interest and attorneys fees on top for Planned Parenthood.

With the case dismissed, the administration has far greater ability to cut Planned Parenthood funds under Trump era rules and that will be the true test of the president’s promise to end taxpayer funding of the abortion industry

Patrick Brown, family policy scholar at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, said that despite pro-life backlash over the restoration of Title X funds, it is not another example of the betrayals pro-lifers have been feeling over the last year. He argued that if HHS hadn't restored the funding, "Planned Parenthood would have had a much stronger legal case. And the concern there is, not only would they win this one, but it could make future litigation harder to win."

Why It Matters:

Planned Parenthood has long claimed that its services are vital to women across the nation; however, Planned Parenthood serves just 2% of American women of reproductive age, and annual reports regularly show that Planned Parenthood’s legitimate health care services have plummeted even as the corporation’s abortion numbers have hit record highs.

Planned Parenthood commits approximately 1,102 abortion daily — nearly 46 per hour, and one every 78 seconds. Sixty-two (62) abortions are committed at Planned Parenthood for every one woman who receives prenatal care.

In addition, Planned Parenthood has become an industry leader in “gender affirming care,” offering “hormone replacement, puberty blockers, and even surgery referrals” to a reported “1 in 6 U.S. teens and young adults who sought gender hormones” in 2023, according to insurance data. It has also been caught up in scandals, including the sales of fetal body parts, staff complaints of discrimination, and Medicaid fraud.

Planned Parenthood "has repeatedly failed to abide by mandatory reporting laws regarding child sexual abuse," Live Action News previously reported. "Yet, both Medicaid and Title X require participants to comply with state and federal laws regarding the reporting of abuse."

The Bottom Line:

Planned Parenthood, through its many scandals, has proven that it should be disqualified from receiving any taxpayer funding.