Planned parenthood faces $1.8M cut in federal funds as CT advocates warn of health care impact

CT Insider – Wednesday, April 16, 2025
By Cris Villalonga-Vivoni

About $1.8 million in federal funds for family planning services from Health and Human Services has been withheld from Planned Parenthood of Southern New England since the end of March, state and federal officials said today, describing it as the first of several attacks aimed at defunding the health care network.

Connecticut Planned Parenthood clinics are still working at full capacity despite the funding pause and are taking on the fiscal burden, but advocates say it isn’t sustainable.

“This funding could deepen the inequities that we already have in our vulnerable communities across Connecticut,” Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz said as she and other legislators urged the federal government to resume funding during a Wednesday morning press conference in Hartford.

Planned Parenthood of Southern New England was one of nine regional affiliates that received notices on March 31 announcing the federal funding suspension. A total of $27.5 million out of the more than $200 million in the program was frozen for 16 Title X providers, including the nine nonprofit Planned Parenthood affiliates, according to Politico.

The cuts specifically affect the federally-funded Title X program enacted in 1970 to help low-income patients access family planning and preventative health care, like birth control, cancer screenings, STI testing and treatment. Federal law prohibits the use of Title X funding for abortions.

Title X funding accounts for roughly 4% of PPSNE’s total budget of over $47 million, a spokesperson said, adding there are no other dedicated funding streams to plug that hole.

Amanda Skinner, president and CEO of PPSNE, said the agency was told funding would be suspended for 10 days while the federal government reviews Planned Parenthood’s compliance with federal law and executive orders. The funding pause would be lifted if they could provide evidence they will follow the federal law within the timeframe, according to Politico. This comes at a time when PPSNE, the largest provider of reproductive health care in the state, is operating with a financial deficit to keep locations open, Skinner said.

Planned Parenthood responded to the notice within the deadline and is keeping doors open with business as usual until more information is provided, said Gretchen Raffa, chief policy and advocacy officer at PPSNE.

Over 40,000 Connecticut PPSNE patients rely on the federal family planning program to access health care, said Raffa. These types of cuts could lead to increased rates of sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancies, as seen in the states that have already made similar funding cuts. It’ll particularly impact some of the most vulnerable communities, including Black and Latino women and low-income individuals, from accessing necessary care.

She said staff is considering all avenues to ensure continued care for patients on state and federal levels, such as advocating to raise state Medicaid reimbursement rates. State legislators have also allocated $800,000 in additional funding for PPSNE ahead of any potential federal changes.

The “Title X program does not pay for abortion care, but that has not stopped anti-abortion politicians from trying to dismantle the entire program,” Raffa said. “Their motivations are clear, and they are not about the health and safety of people. Attacking the basic health care that millions of people rely on is dangerous and it is wrong.”

This isn’t the first time Planned Parenthood and its regional affiliates have had its Title X funding cut by the Trump administration. In 2017, during Trump’s first term, his administration enforced a domestic gag rule prohibiting health care providers who received the federal funding from offering abortion referrals or care, effectively forcing them and other providers out of the program. Raffa said the last time PPSNE was booted from the Title X program, the state stepped in to help fill the financial hole until the gag order was rescinded in 2021 under former President Joe Biden.

However, Raffa said this round of funding suspension is most likely just the start of the Trump administration’s attacks on Planned Parenthood funding now that he is in his second term, including potential federal cuts to Medicaid.

The U.S. Supreme Court is also hearing arguments after South Carolina passed a law that barred Medicaid recipients from accessing care at Planned Parenthood clinics. Raffa said that if ruled in favor, the decision would effectively allow other states to follow suit, gravely impacting access to care.

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., described the cuts as “cruel” and “dumb” under the guise of saving money, especially during a period of ongoing maternal health care crisis across the country.

“There is nothing Republican or Democrat about helping women be healthy, control their bodies and their lives and make decisions about when they want to have children,” he said at Wednesday’s press conference.

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