“Title X family planning clinics play a critical role in ensuring access to a broad range of family planning and preventive health services,” according to the Department of Health and Human Services website. HHS administers the program, which was created in the 1970s with bi-partisan supported and signed into law by President Richard Nixon.
The program has “dedicated dollars that support family planning services around the country,” Milken Institute School of Public Health Professor Susan Wood, PhD, recently told Boston’s WBUR Here & Now radio program. While the Title X program is primarily for low-income women, it is available for anyone who needs it, she said.
The states and communities that receive the funding decide where it goes, Wood pointed out. Recipients include state health departments, community health centers, and free-standing family planning clinics. The program “sets a very high standard for quality, to make sure that there is comprehensive counseling and a broad spectrum of contraceptive services available.”
The Trump administration hasn’t released the funding announcement that will let states get new grants. “I’m worried that something that actually hurts women could come out,” Wood said.
Listen to the entire interview here