ImpACT International | US Health Funding Freeze Harms Low-Income Households

As protestors gathered outside the U.S. Supreme Court on April 2, 2025, for oral arguments in Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, a momentous policy decision was quietly eroding reproductive health access nationwide. Just last week, the Trump administration froze federal funding for dozens of health care providers, chopping off crucial services for millions of low-income Americans.

At the center of this crisis is Title X, a program that since 1970 has been a lifeline for affordable, comprehensive family planning and reproductive health care services. Title X is the only federal program exclusively offering such services, including contraception, cervical cancer screenings and testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), among other things. In 2023 alone, Title X-funded clinics served more than 2.8 million people, including providing more than 460,000 cervical cancer screenings.

This freeze will specifically involve 16 organizations nationwide, including Planned Parenthood and its affiliates — which operate more than 300 clinics that receive Title X funding. The result? A sudden cessation of essential health services for the communities that most need them.

A Danger to At-Risk Communities

For decades, Title X has provided reproductive care to low-income people, mostly women of color, living in rural areas. But now access to these lifesaving services is at risk with this freeze.

Research by Human Rights Watch and the Southern Rural Black Women’s Initiative underscores just how critical this care is. Southern states such as Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi have the highest cervical cancer mortality rates among Black women — rates about 65% higher than those of white women, according to the American Cancer Society. These inequities stem from unequal access to quality, unbiased health care, including preventative screenings and timely diagnoses.

However, cervical cancer is one of the most preventable and treatable cancers if it is caught early. This early detection is made possible by Title X funding. By holding these funds in limbo, the administration is putting an end to prevention, thus leaving a greater chance that cases are undetected before it is too late.

Planned Parenthood in the Cross Hairs

Of the 16 Title X grantees caught up in the funding freeze, nine are Planned Parenthood affiliates. This is especially troubling given that Planned Parenthood is one of the nation’s largest networks of reproductive health care providers, especially for underserved populations.

Planned Parenthood’s president and chief executive responded to the freeze with a stark message:

“We know what happens when health care providers can’t use Title X funding to provide care: people all across the country suffer, cancers go undetected, access to birth control is dramatically reduced and the country’s STI crisis deepens.”

And without Title X funding, clinics will have to cut their hours, turn away patients or even close their doors. Such an outcome could have devastating ripple effects — especially for people in rural or marginalized communities already struggling to access medical care.

The Human Right to Health

Reproductive health care access is not only a matter of policy. It is a human rights issue. The right to health, under international human rights law, entitles everyone to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. This means unimpeded access to reproductive health services, including birth control, cancer screenings, STI testing, and sexual health education.

The Title X funding freeze diminishes this right. It curtails the ability of low-income people — and many of them are women of color — to get in the door for basic health care. It also extends long-standing health inequities in the U.S., particularly in states with inadequate health care infrastructure or systemic racial disparities.

Unsurprisingly, it imposes additional costs on patients who may have to travel further or pay out-of-pocket for previously covered services.

Implications Beyond Reproductive Health

Although Title X provides research, education, and clinical services specifically related to family planning and reproductive health, the reach of this funding freeze goes far wider. Title X–funded clinics are often the gateway to the larger health care system. Patients who seek care at these facilities could also receive referrals for primary care, mental health services and chronic disease management.

When those facilities are defunded, whole communities lose access to care, for reproductive health care and that of their entire well-being. This is especially harmful in low-income urban neighborhoods and remote rural communities, where other providers can be nonexistent or too expensive.

A Call to Action

The choice to seize Title X funding not only undermines public health—it betrays a broader trend of making health care secondary to politics at the expense of vulnerable populations. Rather than promote policies to lessen health disparities, the administration is pursuing measures that exacerbate inequality.

This dangerous decision must be immediately reversed by the Trump administration and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Restoring access to Title X funding is an important step toward making sure all people — regardless of race, income or geography — are able to access the reproductive care they need to live healthy, empowered lives.

What’s at Stake

If not addressed, this funding freeze will result in:

• Scores of cervical cancer deaths are due to missed screenings

• Higher rates of unintended pregnancies from restricted access to birth control.

• STI rates on the rise, as clinics reduce testing and treatment services.

• Broader health inequalities by race and geography, especially in the Deep South.

• Increased healthcare costs over time from delayed diagnoses and treatment.

These consequences are preventable. The infrastructure exists. The medical knowledge exists. The funding is there — if only it would be released and put to its intended use: saving lives.

How Funding Freezes Harm Reproductive Services for Low-Income Americans

Like the rest, Title X is not merely a government program — it is a lifeline for millions of Americans, particularly those who otherwise would forgo care. In freezing these funds, the Trump administration is putting at risk not just individuals’ health but also that of communities’ and the progress that has been made towards health equity.”

Everyone should have access to reproductive health care, regardless of income, race or zip code. Health is a right, and the U.S. policy must reflect that reality. Federal leaders must act as neutrally and quickly as they can to restore Title X funding, so that every person in the U.S. can access the healthcare they are entitled to.