Trump Restores Health Care Funds That Biden Took From Pro-Life States
The Trump administration has restored millions of dollars in federal family planning funds to Oklahoma and Tennessee that Joe Biden took from the two states because they’re pro-life.
Trump’s move reverses a Biden-era decision to withhold the money over the states’ refusal to provide abortion referrals.
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The funds, part of the Title X family planning program, were denied to the two states by the Biden administration after they declined to comply with a 2021 rule requiring providers to offer counseling on abortion because it kills babies. Oklahoma lost $4.5 million, and Tennessee was stripped of $7 million, prompting lawsuits and accusations of political overreach.
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, a leading pro-life group, hailed the reversal.
“The Biden administration punished pro-life states for implementing policies that acknowledge abortion is not family planning,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, the group’s president. “We are happy President Trump is righting this backwards policy and hopeful about seeing Big Abortion defunded this year.”
The Title X program, established in 1970, supports services like contraception, cancer screenings, and STI testing for millions of low-income patients annually. Federal law prohibits the use of Title X funds for abortions, but the Biden administration’s rule mandated that grantees provide “counseling” on abortion as an option, a requirement Oklahoma and Tennessee rejected after enacting pro-life laws following the 2022 Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, who sued the Biden administration over the funding cut, called the Trump decision a victory for state sovereignty.
“The federal government has no business holding health care funds hostage to force compliance with a pro-abortion agenda,” he said in a statement.
Tennessee officials echoed that sentiment, with Gov. Bill Lee saying the state would continue to prioritize “pro-family values.”
The funding restoration comes as the Trump administration simultaneously freezes tens of millions in Title X grants to Planned Parenthood affiliates, pending a review of their compliance with new executive orders.
Dannenfelser criticized the Biden administration for funneling “billions of dollars” to Planned Parenthood, which she called “the nation’s largest abortion business,” noting it does nearly 400,000 abortions annually.