For Immediate Release: June 27, 2024  
Contact: Audrey Sandusky, asandusky@nfprha.org

House Subcommittee Moves to Defund Crucial Family Planning Services

Washington, D.C. – The National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association (NFPRHA) issued the following statement in response to the House Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee fiscal year (FY) 2025 funding proposal released today, attributed to Clare Coleman, President & CEO of NFPRHA.

"Today, the House Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee once again proposed an appropriations bill that defunds the Title X family planning program. This is the second consecutive attempt by the House Appropriations Labor-HHS Subcommittee to eliminate funding for Title X, a tactic we have come to expect from those who oppose the right to contraception. Title X provides lifesaving preventive health care, including cancer screening, STI testing and treatment, HIV testing, and contraception for people with no or low incomes and those who have been historically and systemically marginalized. Despite eliminating funding for the program, the bill further restrains Title X through a prohibition on the program’s abortion referral requirements.   

"Defunding Title X would dismantle an essential component of the public health infrastructure that supports more than 3,000 providers nationwide, delivering indispensable care to millions of people. If enacted, it could set off a cascade of negative impacts, undermining the nation’s family planning safety net and leaving countless individuals without access to necessary care. We call on Congress to reject this harmful proposal and fully fund Title X, ensuring that all individuals have access to the family planning and sexual health care they need." 

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NFPRHA is a membership organization representing publicly funded family planning providers and administrators nationwide. NFPRHA advances and elevates the importance of family planning in the nation’s health care system and promotes and supports the work of family planning providers and administrators, especially those in the safety net. For more information, visit nationalfamilyplanning.org.