The Oklahoma State Department of Health told The Hill the Trump administration is giving them at least $1.96 million under the Title X program.
The Tennessee Department of Health also received an award notice, but it is still unclear just how much funding they are set to receive.
Title X is the country’s only federal program solely dedicated to providing birth control and reproductive health care to low-income Americans. In 2013, the program supported nearly 4,000 clinics that served almost 2.8 million people, according to health advocacy nonprofit KFF.
Both state health departments were Title X grant recipients until the 2022 Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade, and the states banned abortion.
A year later, both Oklahoma and Tennessee health departments were disqualified from the program by the Biden administration after they violated a rule requiring them to provide comprehensive pregnancy options counseling including abortion referrals if requested. The state health departments lost millions of dollars in funding that was distributed to other clinics, including Planned Parenthood.
The Biden administration in 2021 required that state-funded providers who want to receive money from the Title X program give patients “neutral, factual information and nondirective counseling” about all their options, including abortion, followed by facts about where the service could be obtained, if asked.
The Department of Health and Human Services at the time said states such as Oklahoma that banned abortion could comply with the Title X rules by simply ensuring that providers offer the telephone number of a third-party hotline to patients who request pregnancy counseling or a referral. But they refused, effectively prohibiting any discussions about elective abortions.
The move to restore funding to red states follows the Trump administration’s announcement that it was withholding Title X funding from 16 groups, including nine Planned Parenthood affiliates.
