Planned Parenthood’s Withdraws from Title X

Trump Policies Put National Health Goals in Jeopardy

 Washington, DC, August 20, 2019 – This week, Planned Parenthood, along with many state and local health clinics, announced its decision to leave the federal Title X program rather than comply with restrictive policies rolled out by the Trump Administration. The deadline for compliance with these rules – which prohibits Title X grantees from providing or referring patients for abortion, except in cases of rape, incest or medical emergency – was August 19.

“The Trump Administration left Planned Parenthood with no good choice,” said Funders Concerned About AIDS Executive Director, John Barnes. “Instead, it was left to either eliminate essential aspects of care or lose funding.”

The impact of this week’s deadline reverberates beyond abortion services. In his 2019 State of the Union address, President Trump announced a new federal plan to end the HIV epidemic in the U.S. by 2030. Yet, clinics funded through Title X have historically been the primary source of HIV testing and services in rural and other under-served areas. The current policy means that many clinics will be forced to close their doors altogether, leaving entire communities without critical health resources. There will also be a disproportionate impact on those who already have fewer resources and less access to care.

“In many areas of the country, Planned Parenthood is the only source of regular HIV testing and services,” said Barnes. “Tying the organization’s hands in this way is tantamount to egging on the epidemic, as is illustrated by the 2015 HIV outbreak in Scott County, Indiana. The situation was made far worse by the closure of a Planned Parenthood clinic.”

This harmful policy change willfully ignores the evidence and experience of more than three decades of fighting HIV and AIDS. The implementation of Title X, and subsequent withdrawal of Planned Parenthood and other organizations from this critical funding source, will make it all but impossible to end HIV in the U.S. by 2030.

Funders Concerned About AIDS urges the Trump administration to reverse course on its changes to Title X and support evidence-based policies to combat the HIV epidemic. In the absence of Federal leadership, we applaud those state and local governments that are stepping in to help fill the gap. And we encourage private funders to do as they have always done: fight challenges to progress and leverage your unique ability to drive increased, focused funding where it is most urgently needed.

About Funders Concerned About AIDS

Funders Concerned About AIDS (FCAA) is the leading voice on philanthropic resources allocated to the global AIDS epidemic. It provides funders with the necessary data to make informed decisions related to allocating increased, focused HIV/AIDS resources. www.fcaaids.org.