States sue Trump over obstacles to family planning grants

Under a policy shift, recipients of Title X funds will have to comply with new federal priorities opposing contraception, DEI policies and transgender identities.BALTIMORE (CN) — A coalition of 23 states sued the Trump administration Thursday over a conservative overhaul of the nation’s only federal grant program for family planning, calling the new restrictions unconstitutional.“Supporting programs that provide options and education about family planning is critical to helping people, especially women, make informed decisions about their own bodies and improve their social and economic futures,” wrote Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, one of the 23 litigants, in a press release Thursday. “The Trump administration has chosen to politicize the Title X program, jeopardizing funding for a broad range of reproductive and sexual healthcare services and risking serious public health consequences.”The suit, filed in Maryland federal court, centers on the Department of Health and Human Services’ Notice of Funding Opportunity for Title X grants in the 2027 fiscal year, released in July.Specifically, the notice expresses that applicants will be judged disproportionately based on whether they comply with a list of department priorities — including “overmedicalization” of hormonal contraception; opposition to diversity, equity and inclusion policies; and refusal to acknowledge transgender identities and transgender-specific medical needs.Additionally, the notice reads, recipients who cease compliance with the department’s priorities could lose their respective grants in their entirety.“Title X is about making family planning and reproductive care accessible to all, but President Trump is trying to use ideologically driven conditions to unravel this historically bipartisan safety net and fashion it into a political bludgeon,” wrote California Attorney General Rob Bonta in a press release Thursday. “Conditioning millions of dollars in federal funding doesn’t make America healthier, it makes care harder.”With Title X funds suddenly in jeopardy due to the shift in grant conditions, state officials argue financial shortfalls in critical health services will fall on state governments — and not all can pick up the bill.“Many will not be able to continue funding these programs at the same level using state-only dollars,” the state officials wrote in their complaint. “And the result — curtailing services and even shuttering clinics — will deprive many low-income residents of crucial services.”Claiming the notice’s conditions were imposed arbitrarily and capriciously under the Administrative Procedure Act, the litigant states seek a judicial declaration that the challenged conditions be struck from the notice, such that failure to comply with the department’s priorities cannot be used against grant applicants or serve as justification for rescission of funds.New York Attorney General Letitia James is leading the lawsuit, joined by the attorneys general of Maryland, Massachusetts, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin, as well as the governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania.The Department of Health and Human Services declined to comment on ongoing litigation.This isn’t the first time President Donald Trump has led the executive branch to clamp down on Title X funding.During his first term, Trump oversaw a 2019 revision to Title X grant conditions that banned the use of funds for performing, promoting and supporting abortion as a means of family planning. Even mentioning abortion care to a patient could have resulted in losing grant funds.While 21 states sued the administration over the conditions, the Biden administration rescinded the rule in 2021 before a Supreme Court decision could be made.“We fought to protect Title X during the first Trump administration, and today we are going back to court to defend it again,” wrote James, who also led the litigation against the 2019 conditions, in a press release Thursday. “The administration keeps trying to use federal funding to force states to carry out its agenda, and time and time again, we have stopped them.”“They may think the eighth time will be the charm,” James added, “but New York will keep fighting back and protecting every patient’s right to access the care they need.”Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads