2025-58 HAWAIʻI LEADS MULTISTATE LETTER URGING TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TO RESTORE TITLE X FUNDING

 

STATE OF HAWAIʻI

KA MOKU ʻĀINA O HAWAIʻI

 

DEPARTMENT OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

KA ʻOIHANA O KA LOIO KUHINA

 

JOSH GREEN, M.D.
GOVERNOR

KE KIAʻĀINA

 

ANNE LOPEZ

ATTORNEY GENERAL

LOIO KUHINA

 

HAWAIʻI LEADS MULTISTATE LETTER URGING TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TO RESTORE TITLE X FUNDING

 

 

 

News Release 2025-58

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 1, 2025

 

HONOLULU – Attorney General Anne Lopez today led a coalition of 20 attorneys general in sending a letter to the Trump Administration to express serious concern with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) decision to withhold tens of millions of dollars in Title X funding.

 

Signed into law by President Richard Nixon, Title X is the nation’s only federal program dedicated to family planning for low-income and uninsured individuals. On March 31, HHS issued letters to a wide range of grant recipients that fund nearly 25% of all Title X clinics, indicating that these grantees’ Title X grants were being withheld.

 

In today’s letter, the attorneys general write that the withholding of funds will lead to more unintended pregnancies, more sexually transmitted infections (STIs), increased rates of undiagnosed HIV, increased rates of cervical cancer and a higher burden on over-stretched state budgets.

 

“Hawai‘i has been deprived of all Title X funding, jeopardizing our residents’ access to vital healthcare,” said Deputy Solicitor General Caitlyn Carpenter. “We know from prior experience what happens when the federal government interferes with Title X. People experience an increase in serious health harms and states bear higher burdens. We urge Secretary Kennedy to reverse course and fully fund these critical programs.”

 

According to the letter, if state and local governments are not able to make up for the federal shortfall, patients will see a reduction in services as clinics close and providers are terminated. The letter goes on to explain that this will fall particularly hard on poor and rural communities that are the primary beneficiaries of the Title X programs. In many areas, a Title X clinic is the only source of prenatal services and screening for STIs. 

 

In the letter, the attorneys general write that:

• Recent history demonstrates that cutting Title X grantees will worsen care. In 2019, the Trump Administration changed the rules governing Title X, leading to a mass loss of healthcare providers. Nationwide, the number of Title X patients fell more than 60%, from 3.9 million to 1.5 million. This recent history demonstrates what happens — and how quickly — when the federal government slashes access to Title X. In total, the Guttmacher Institute estimates that as a direct result of HHS’s action in withholding funds, at least 834,000 patients, representing 30% of the total population served, will lose care in the first year alone.
• The states will be harmed by HHS’s decision. While the 2019 rule was in effect, many states were forced to make emergency appropriations to cover for the loss of providers. Title X programs are a critical component of vital public health infrastructure. An important example is the role of Title X programs in detecting and preventing STIs. Between 2006 and 2010, 18% of all women who were tested, treated, or received counseling for an STI did so at a Title X clinic, as did 14% of women tested for HIV. States are once again faced with a choice: dip once again into general funds to make up the difference, or deal with a surge in new STIs and unintended pregnancies.  
• There is no justification for the terminations. Although HHS suggested Title X grantees violated federal civil rights laws, HHS has provided absolutely no evidence supporting this suggestion. 

 

This letter is led by Attorney General Lopez and Attorney General Rob Bonta of California. Joining the letter are the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.

 

A copy of the letter can be found here.

 

* * *

 

Media Contacts:

Dave Day

Special Assistant to the Attorney General

Office: 808-586-1284                                                  

Email: [email protected]

Web: http://ag.hawaii.gov

 

Toni Schwartz
Public Information Officer
Hawai‘i Department of the Attorney General
Office: 808-586-1252
Cell: 808-379-9249
Email: [email protected] 

Web: http://ag.hawaii.gov