New York could face more unintended pregnancies, sexually-transmitted infections and cervical cancer cases after the Trump administration moved to cut its Title X funding in half during the upcoming fiscal year, according to Attorney General Letitia James.
James and 20 attorneys general from other states sent a letter to U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Thursday to warn about the “devastating consequences” of the federal government’s April 1 decision to withhold $65 million in Title X funds, which are federal grants that flow to family planning clinics that primarily serve low-income individuals. The funding freeze, which affects 25% of all Title X providers nationwide, is part of the Trump administration’s attempt to enforce a series of executive orders that target diversity and immigration.
The freeze could slash New York’s Title X funds from $14 million to $7 million in the upcoming fiscal year, according to the attorney general’s office. The state’s two Title X grantees – the Department of Health and Tribeca-based nonprofit Public Health Solutions – received notice from the federal government that they would get only 46% of their annual grants, which support approximately 160 providers statewide, the grantees told Crain’s.
Neither of the state’s Title X grantees have lost existing funding, and no providers have been impacted by the freeze to date, according to Erin Clary, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Health. But the looming funding loss could erode access to services including birth control, cancer screenings and pregnancy testing that low-income patients rely on, the attorneys general said.
Clary said that the state “will continue to closely monitor any federal changes or proposed cuts to the Title X program, fight for reproductive rights and advance health equity.”
The attorneys general called on the federal government to reinstate funding before providers have to lay off staff and cut services to stay afloat – consequences that many endured during the wave of Title X cuts during President Donald Trump’s first term. In 2019, the Trump administration withheld funding from Title X clinics that referred patients to get abortions or discussed it as an option, and changed the program’s rules to allow faith-based clinics who did not provide birth control or abortions to access additional funding.
Trump’s previous Title X cuts caused 60% of patients who received services through the program to lose access to care. Between 2018 and 2020, the number of Title X patients nationwide dropped from 3.9 million to 1.5 million, the attorneys general said. The cuts forced some states to reach into their own pockets to fill the gaps; New York made a one-time $14.2 million emergency payment to keep its Title X clinics above water in 2021, according to the letter.
Though New York’s cuts are looming, providers in states that have lost more funding face immediate closures. Two Planned Parenthood clinics in rural Utah, one of seven states that lost all Title X funding, closed this week because of the funding losses, local news outlets reported.
Lisa David, president and CEO of Public Health Solutions, said that her organization is in conversation with the state to determine how to fill the gaps from future losses in Title X funding. The public health cuts on the table now are far more widespread compared to the first Trump administration, David noted, meaning there are larger holes to fill.
“It’s a different context from last time,” David said. “I think there are going to be tougher decisions to be made about what federal funds could be replaced with state funds.”
