Planned Parenthood and other health clinics have received a crucial lifeline as President Donald Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services releases tens of millions of dollars amid legal challenges.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration on behalf of the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association last April after HHS withheld more than 20 Title X family planning grants worth $65.8 million.
The grants funded 865 family planning service sites to about 842,000 patients across nearly two dozen states. The federal dollars gave patients, especially those with low incomes, access to contraceptives, cancer screenings and testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections.
The affected clinics slowly had their funding restored with HHS quietly releasing the remaining federal dollars in December, Politico reported.
In a court filing Tuesday, the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association voluntarily dismissed its lawsuit against the Trump administration after all the Title X grants were restored.
“The Trump administration illegally withheld vital family planning funds that federal grantees were relying on to provide time-sensitive, critical care to hundreds of thousands of people in need,” Clare Coleman, president and CEO of the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association, said in a statement.
“We are relieved all of our members now have access to their promised funds, but we know the fight for contraceptive access in this country goes on. We will continue to stand up for our members and the essential care they provide to millions of individuals,” Coleman added.
The Independent has reached out to HHS for comment.
In 10 days, anti-abortion advocates will participate in the annual March for Life demonstration in Washington, D.C., as organizers say, “our work to protect life continues at the state and federal levels.”
It comes at a time when anti-abortion groups are concerned that Trump isn’t doing enough for them.
“There’s definitely some ill feeling” between anti-abortion advocates and the administration, Patrick Brown, a fellow at the conservative think tank Ethics and Public Policy Center, said in an article published by The Hill on Tuesday.
