Attorney General Charity Clark, along with 21 other attorneys general, has expressed concern over the recent decision by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to withhold substantial amounts of Title X funding. Title X, established under President Richard Nixon, is a federal program dedicated to providing family planning services for low-income and uninsured individuals.
On March 31, HHS informed various grant recipients—funding nearly one-quarter of all Title X clinics—that their grants would be withheld. The attorneys general have addressed a letter to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., urging a reversal of this decision. They highlight that removing these funds could result in increased unintended pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), undiagnosed HIV cases, cervical cancer occurrences, and pressure on state budgets.
California, Hawai‘i, and Maine are among the states that have had all Title X funding stopped, causing significant disruption. If states cannot compensate for the federal funding shortfall, clinics might close, and healthcare services could be reduced significantly, impacting primarily poor and rural communities. In some areas, Title X clinics are the sole providers of prenatal services and STI screenings.
The coalition joining Attorney General Clark includes attorneys general from Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai‘i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington.