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Promise Kept: Planned Parenthood regained federal funding under Biden administration

Samantha Putterman
By Samantha Putterman November 20, 2024

President-elect Donald Trump's first administration barred them from receiving federal Title X grants, but Planned Parenthood clinics have been able to rejoin the program under President Joe Biden.

Keeping a promise he made in 2020 to restore Planned Parenthood's federal funding, Biden issued a final rule that overturned Trump's directive in October 2021. Since then, hundreds of Planned Parenthood clinics that left the network have rejoined.

Title X grants provide federal dollars for family planning services to clinics that serve low-income and uninsured people. These services include contraception; pregnancy tests and counseling; sexually-transmitted infection and cancer screenings; and some infertility care.

Organizations receiving these grants cannot use the money to pay for abortion services because of the Hyde Amendment, a 1976 federal provision prohibiting the use of federal money for abortions except in cases of rape, incest or threats to the pregnant woman's life. But in 2019, the Trump administration issued a rule that barred clinics from receiving the money if they provided abortion referrals, or were on the same property as an abortion provider.

The rule spurred almost a third of the participants to withdraw from the Title X network, including more than 400 Planned Parenthood clinics and about 900 other clinics according to health news organization KFF. Now, more clinics are participating in the program than did before Trump's rule, KFF found. 

Of the roughly 400 Planned Parenthood sites that left the program, 286, or about 70% have rejoined as of 2023. More than 800 clinics in total that left have rejoined the network, and more than 700 new clinics have been added.

The Biden administration rule, which took effect Nov. 8, 2021, returned the program mostly to its pre-Trump administration condition. Clinics that receive Title X grants can provide abortion counseling and referrals, or can have abortion services on the same property.

The new rule also reversed the 2019 rule requiring pregnant patients to be referred for prenatal services, whether they wanted the services or not. Because of Biden's move, pregnancy counseling must again be nondirective, meaning patients decide their path forward undirected by providers. If the patients choose, the path can include abortion referral.

The Biden rule also added that telehealth be permitted for family planning services.

In fiscal year 2022, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services disbursed $256 million in Title X grants, including $16 million to Planned Parenthood regional groups.

The agency awarded more than $263 million in Title X funds in fiscal year 2023, with about $15.5 million going to Planned Parenthood groups, and $261 million in fiscal year 2024, with $21 million to Planned Parenthood groups.

Planned Parenthood also received other Title X grants through the Biden administration.

The administration, as part of the 2022 American Rescue Plan, gave $6.6 million to eight grantees, which included Planned Parenthood clinics, to address "dire family planning needs." This was part of a series of actions HHS took in response to S.B. 8, a Texas law banning abortions in the state after six weeks of pregnancy. HHS also awarded $16.3 million in supplemental funds to 31 grantees to enhance and expand telehealth infrastructure and capacity.

The incoming Trump administration will likely reverse Biden's changes, health policy experts said.

"This may likely be the reality that Planned Parenthood and other clinics will face with the changing of each administration," said Brittni Frederiksen, an associate director for Women's Health Policy at KFF who has focused on Title X.

Title X funding accounts for a small portion of the total funding clinics receive. A bigger source of funding comes from Medicaid, Frederiksen said.

In 2016, Trump campaigned on defunding Planned Parenthood. Vice President-elect JD Vance has said the incoming Trump administration will stand by that goal.

Nevertheless, Biden achieved his campaign promise of restoring federal funding to Planned Parenthood. At least 70% of the Planned Parenthood sites that left the program under Trump rejoined the network as of 2023.

We rate this Promise Kept.

Our Sources

Office of Population Affairs, Fiscal Year 2022 Title X Service Grant Awards, Accessed Nov. 18, 2024

Office of Population Affairs, Fiscal Year 2023 Title X Service Grant Awards, Accessed Nov. 19, 2024

Office of Population Affairs, Fiscal Year 2024 Title X Service Grant Awards, Accessed Nov. 19, 2024

KFF, Rebuilding the Title X Network Under the Biden Administration, May 25, 2023 

U.S. Government Accountability Office, Federal Funding for Certain Organizations Providing Health-Related Services, 2019 through 2022, Dec. 12, 2023 

USA Facts, How much government money does Planned Parenthood receive?, Aug. 1, 2024

Ohio Attorney General, Ohio Wins Injunction in Lawsuit Challenging Biden Administration's HHS Rules on Title X Funding, Dec. 1, 2023 

Email interview, Brittni Frederiksen, an associate director for Women's Health Policy at KFF, Nov. 18-19, 2024