Tennessee Attorney General Sues Federal Government Over Title X Funding

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Knoxville Tuesday against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for withholding funding in family planning money after the state did not abide by rules requiring clinics to give out abortion referrals, per reporting from The Associated Press.

Tennessee was disqualified from getting federal funding earlier this year through the Title X Family Planning Program, which is a federal grant program established in 1970 to subsidize family-planning services and some preventative healthcare services. Tennessee had received funding through Title X since 1970 to help clinics provide birth control and health care, per The Associated Press.

In 2021, the Biden administration reversed a Trump-era policy that disqualified organizations that give out abortion referrals from being eligible for Title X federal funding. Because of the Trump administration's policy, intended to target abortion providers, Planned Parenthood withdrew from the Title X program.

The current law says that although clinics can’t use federal Title X money for abortions, these organizations are required to provide information about abortion if the patient asks.

Skrmetti argues in his lawsuit that HHS is not permitted to withhold Title X money due to a state’s ban on abortion. The lawsuit is also asking for “clarity” on “whether HHS’s previously canceled funding will be restored or whether Tennessee will need to plug the funding gap with legislation appropriating additional state dollars to the Health Department or shut down the program altogether.”

“This Court can resolve this controversy by declaring that Tennessee has a right to receive Title X funding notwithstanding its policy of declining to make abortion referrals as part of its Title X programming,” the lawsuit reads. 

In March of this year, per Axios, HHS said to the state that "Tennessee is out of compliance with the Title X regulatory requirements," because of a state policy that maintains that clinics only need to provide information "regarding all options that are legal in the State of Tennessee.” And because abortion is banned in the state, this state policy does not include abortion.

The federal government said in March that allowing Tennessee to receive Title X money was “not in the best interest of the government.” An appeal to that decision by the state is still playing out. 

And in September HHS said it would give some of the state's Title X funding to Planned Parenthood in the state.

Skrmetti, in his lawsuit, argues that the federal appeals process has been stalled, per the Associated Press. 

“Tennessee filed an administrative appeal of HHS’s termination decision with the hopes of finding a resolution that would enable its Health Department to continue to serve tens of thousands of families through Title X. The appeal languished with HHS,” the lawsuit states. 

Said Skrmetti in a statement on Wednesday: “We are suing to stop the federal government from playing politics with the health of Tennessee women.”

He added: “Our lawsuit is necessary to ensure that Tennessee can continue its 50-year track record of successfully providing these public health services to its neediest populations.”