You've probably heard of Title IX, but Title X is now in the headlines — thanks to another funding pause by the Trump administration.
Title X the country's only national family planning program devoted to providing affordable birth control and other services to low-income Americans. The administration is withholding tens of millions of dollars from Planned Parenthood clinics normally provided through Title X, citing "possible violations" of the president's executive orders — including a prohibition on promotion of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
But Rebecca Gibron, president of Planned Parenthood Great Northwest Hawaii, Alaska, Indiana, and Kentucky, says nearly 70 percent of her organization's patients in the Commonwealth rely on Title X.
"They are making it harder for people to access the health care that they need," she says. "We are going to do everything we can to try and mitigate this impact on Kentuckians. But there's no question that any disruption in the Title X program will have a devastating impact on patients who rely on this this form of health care."
To be clear, the funds do not go toward abortion. But Gibron says she believes the pause on funds amounts to a political attack.
"The Trump administration and Elon Musk are using Title X to push their own agenda and impose their personal beliefs on everyone," she says. "They want to shut down Planned Parenthood health centers to appease their anti-abortion backers. And, frankly, they're willing to take away birth control, cancer screenings, and STI testing and treatment to get their way."
The letter sent to Planned Parenthood chapters points to the clinics’ mission statements and other public documents citing a “commitment to black communities” as indications the facilities do not align with the administration's efforts to uproot DEI programs.