NEW YORK — New York is leading a 23-state lawsuit challenging new Trump administration conditions attached to federal family planning funding, arguing the requirements could threaten access to preventive healthcare for hundreds of thousands of patients statewide.
Attorney General Letitia James is leading the challenge to new conditions tied to Title X, the federal grant program dedicated to family planning and related preventive health services.
In New York, Title X supports 165 health centers serving more than 250,000 patients. The state receives about $11.1 million annually through the program, according to the attorney general’s office.
The dispute centers on new requirements issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in July for the next five-year Title X grant cycle.
New York’s lawsuit challenges conditions tied to Trump administration policies involving diversity, equity and inclusion, gender-related care, contraception, natural family planning, marriage and parenthood.
The state argues the federal government does not have the legal authority to condition Title X funding on those policy priorities.
“We fought to protect Title X during the first Trump administration, and today we are going back to court to defend it again,” James said in a statement. “The administration keeps trying to use federal funding to force states to carry out its agenda, and time and again, we have stopped them.”
Title X has operated for more than 50 years and helps support services including contraception, pregnancy testing, sexually transmitted infection testing and treatment, cancer screenings and other preventive care, particularly for low-income and uninsured patients.
The attorney general’s office says losing the funding could eventually lead to staffing cuts and reduced contracts with healthcare providers.
Providers in Western New York say those federal dollars translate directly into access to care.
A representative from the Community Health Center of Buffalo told Spectrum News many of its patients live below the federal poverty line and have few other options for care.
“Most of our patients are below the federal poverty line. They don’t have access to care through other means. This funding is really important to help keep this service going.”
The representative said Title X-supported services extend well beyond contraception.
“I think people think it’s contraception, family planning, but it’s also health, sexually transmitted infections, cancer screenings, things like that.”
At Planned Parenthood of Central and Western New York, providers say Title X can also help patients access contraception they may otherwise struggle to afford.
Asked what Title X means for a woman seeking birth control who cannot afford it on her own, a Planned Parenthood representative said the program provides patients with more control over their reproductive health choices.
“I think Title X, in that case, just means empowerment to choose the best method of birth control, family planning, best for the person.”
Federal law does not allow Title X funds to be used for abortion as a method of family planning.
The lawsuit is also drawing political reaction from members of New York’s congressional delegation.
Democratic Rep. Tim Kennedy is backing James’ challenge and accusing the administration of using healthcare funding to pressure states that disagree with its policies.
“This blatantly unconstitutional attempt to tie New York’s hands threatens the care of hundreds of thousands of patients who rely on Title X funding as a healthcare lifeline,” Kennedy said in a statement.
Kennedy also said New Yorkers should not have their healthcare used as a “bargaining chip.”
The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Maryland and remains in its early stages.
There has been no final ruling, and patients are not currently losing Title X services because of the case.
New York is asking the court to block the new conditions before they affect the next funding cycle.
Spectrum News also reached out to Republican Rep. Nick Langworthy for comment on the new requirements and the lawsuit but did not immediately receive a response.