Skip to content
Center for Reproductive Rights
Center for Reproductive Rights

Primary Menu

  • About
    • Overview
    • Center Leadership & Staff
    • Pro Bono Program
    • Creative Council
    • Annual Reports
    • Contact Us
    • Careers
    • Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
  • Work
    • Overview
    • Litigation
    • Legal Policy and Advocacy
    • Resources & Research
    • Recent Case Highlights
    • Landmark Cases
    • World’s Abortion Laws Map
    • After Roe Fell: Abortion Laws by State
  • Issues
    • Overview
    • Abortion
    • Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights
    • Assisted Reproduction
    • Contraception
    • Humanitarian Settings
    • Maternal Health
    • COVID-19
  • Regions
    • Overview
    • Africa
    • Asia
    • Europe
    • Latin America and the Caribbean
    • United States
    • Global Advocacy
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Center in the Spotlight
    • Events
    • Press Releases
    • Press Room
    • Newsletters
  • Resources
    • Resources & Research
    • World Abortion Laws Map
    • After Roe Fell: Abortion Laws by State
  • Act
    • Overview
    • Give
    • Act
    • Learn
  • Donate
    • Make a Gift Now
    • Be a Champion
    • Join the Advocates Council
    • Become a Major Donor
    • Give Through Your Donor-Advised Fund
    • Make a Gift In Honor
    • Attend an Event
    • Leave a Legacy
    • More Ways to Give
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn
Donate
icon-hamburger icon-magnifying-glass Donate
icon-magnifying-glass-teal

Title X Family Planning

Center for Reproductive Rights - Center for Reproductive Rights - search logo
search Close Close icon
Center for Reproductive Rights -
Menu Close Menu Close icon
Donate

Primary Menu

  • About
    • Overview
    • Center Leadership & Staff
    • Pro Bono Program
    • Creative Council
    • Annual Reports
    • Contact Us
    • Careers
    • Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
  • Work
    • Overview
    • Litigation
    • Legal Policy and Advocacy
    • Resources & Research
    • Recent Case Highlights
    • Landmark Cases
    • World’s Abortion Laws Map
    • After Roe Fell: Abortion Laws by State
  • Issues
    • Overview
    • Abortion
    • Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights
    • Assisted Reproduction
    • Contraception
    • Humanitarian Settings
    • Maternal Health
    • COVID-19
  • Regions
    • Overview
    • Africa
    • Asia
    • Europe
    • Latin America and the Caribbean
    • United States
    • Global Advocacy
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Center in the Spotlight
    • Events
    • Press Releases
    • Press Room
    • Newsletters
  • Resources
    • Resources & Research
    • World Abortion Laws Map
    • After Roe Fell: Abortion Laws by State
  • Act
    • Overview
    • Give
    • Act
    • Learn
  • Donate
    • Make a Gift Now
    • Be a Champion
    • Join the Advocates Council
    • Become a Major Donor
    • Give Through Your Donor-Advised Fund
    • Make a Gift In Honor
    • Attend an Event
    • Leave a Legacy
    • More Ways to Give
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn

Related Content

Issues:

Funding for Reproductive Healthcare, Public Funding

Regions:

United States

Work:

Engaging Policymakers, In Washington D.C.

Type:

Publications, Fact Sheets

Follow the Center

Donate Now

Join Now

01.01.2004

Engaging Policymakers Funding for Reproductive Healthcare United States Publications

Title X Family Planning

Justin Goldberg

Share this Story

  • facebook
  • Twitter
  • linkedin
  • Email id

America Must Continue Its Commitment to Reproductive Health


Family planning clinics are vital to the provision of reproductive health care and often serve as an entry point into the health-care system for young women and low-income people in this country. They offer contraceptive services and education that prevent unintended pregnancy, testing and treatment for sexually transmissible infections (STIs), and other primary reproductive health care.


The U.S. government’s Title X (Ten) program funds low-cost, confidential family planning services that would otherwise be out of reach for many women. Title X not only benefits millions of Americans each year, but also serves important public health goals. Unless the program is adequately funded, however, many Americans will be unable to obtain these important services.


The Title X Program


The Title X program provides public funding for family planning and preventive health screening services. Established by Congress in 1970, the aim of the program is “to assist in making comprehensive voluntary family planning services readily available to all persons desiring such services.”1 The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services administers the Title X program through its Office of Family Planning. Approximately 4,600 public and private entities, including non-profit family planning clinics, hospitals and public health departments, receive Title X funds each year.2


Services at Title X facilities are provided on a sliding scale based on income, people at or below the federal poverty level receive services at no cost. No one is refused services because of inability to pay.


The Title X program has always provided family planning services to adolescents. In 1978, Congress amended Title X to place “a special emphasis on preventing unwanted pregnancies among sexually active adolescents,” adding services specifically for teenagers. 3


Title X Funds a Range of Reproductive Health Services


Family planning services provided through Title X include contraception, treatment of STIs, preventive services, such as screening for breast and cervical cancer, pregnancy tests and counseling, and educational programs. Title X funding does not cover pregnancy care, such as obstetric or prenatal care.


Title X funds cannot be used to provide abortions.4 However, Title X projects must offer pregnant women neutral and factual information, non-directive counseling and referrals upon request for all of their pregnancy options. This includes prenatal care and delivery, infant care, foster care or adoption, and abortion.5


Title X Guarantees Confidentiality


Title X requires that all participants, including adolescents, receive confidential care. Regulations governing the program mandate that health care providers maintain the patient-physician confidentiality that is crucial for providing timely, appropriate services.6 In 1981, Congress amended Title X to require grantees “to the extent practical” to “encourage family participation in the decision of minors to seek family planning services,” thus encouraging, but not mandating, parental involvement. 7


Title X Facilities Serve Millions of Americans


Each year approximately 4.5 million people receive health-care services at Title X-funded clinics. The vast majority of those using Title X clinics are women, and 60% are less than 25 years of age. Nearly two-thirds of Title X clients come from households with incomes below the poverty level.8


Additional Funding for Title X Programs Is Vital


Title X family planning clinics have served an important need in communities throughout the United States for more than thirty years. The services provided have reduced the number of unintended pregnancies and improved the health of the population.


Unfortunately, the Title X program does not receive enough funding to meet the goal of “making comprehensive voluntary family planning services readily available.”9 Nearly half of the pregnancies occurring each year in the United States are unintended, and approximately half of those pregnancies are terminated by abortion.10 If Title X funding had been increased at the rate of inflation from its FY 1980 funding level of $162 million, it would have been funded at over $590 million in FY 2002. Yet the Bush Administration proposed level funding for the program at a mere $265 million for the 2003 and 2004 budgets, and Congress appropriated $275 million in 2003.11 At the same time, the rising costs of contraceptives and diagnostic tests are straining the limited financial resources of Title X providers. 12


By under-funding the Title X program, Congress is denying men and women the basic reproductive health services that help to reduce the number of unintended pregnancies and prevent the spread of STIs . The Center for Reproductive Rights urges Congress to show its commitment to the reproductive health of all Americans by funding the Title X program at a level that, at a minimum, reflects inflation and rising costs. This would ensure that Title X can continue to provide services at their current level.


Attempts to Undermine the Success of Title X Should Be Rejected


The effectiveness of the Title X program is also threatened by proposals that would reduce access and deter potential clients. One such restriction, the Parent’s Right to Know Act (H.R. 2444), would require minors to either notify or obtain the consent of a parent, or approval from a judge, before obtaining contraceptives from a Title X provider. Denying minors confidential care at Title X clinics would drastically reduce the ability of those facilities to serve them. Studies demonstrate that minors will forgo or delay seeking reproductive health care–but not sexual activity–if their parents must be notified.13 This proposal undermines the goals of Title X, and in particular the emphasis that Congress has previously placed on reducing unintended pregnancies among adolescents.


A second restriction, previously proposed by Representative David Vitter (R-LA), would disqualify any private grantee that provides abortions with non-Title X funds from receiving Title X funds for contraceptive or other preventive health-care services. If adopted, this restriction would deny funding to an estimated six hundred Title X clinics, which serve nearly one million low-income women. This misguided proposal would increase the number of unintended pregnancies and abortions.


For more than thirty years the Title X program has made it possible for millions of Americans to obtain reproductive health care. For the program to remain effective, Congress must increase its funding and reject attempts to restrict or limit access to Title X services. The Center for Reproductive Rights urges strong support for Title X.


Endnotes
1. Family Planning Services & Population Research Act of 1970, Pub. L. No. 91-572, 84 Stat. 1504 (1970) (codified as amended at 42 U.S.C. §§ 300 et seq. (1991 & Supp. 2000)).
2. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Public Health and Science, Office of Population Affairs, Office of Family Planning. opa.osophs.dhhs.gov/titlex/ofp.html.
3. S. Rep. No. 95-822, at 24 (1978).
4. Consolidated Appropriations Act, Pub. L. No. 108-7 (2003) (“[A]mounts provided to said [Title X] projects under such title shall not be expended for abortions, that all pregnancy counseling shall be nondirective, and that such amounts shall not be expended for any activity (including the publication or distribution of literature) that in any way tends to promote public support or opposition to any legislative proposal or candidate for public office”). See also, 42 C.F.R. § 59.5 (Title X projects must “[n]ot provide abortion as a method of family planning”).
5. 42 C.F.R. § 59.5. In 1988, a restriction known as the “Gag Rule” was imposed on Title X services, which prohibited counseling about, or referrals for, abortions and required physical and financial separation of abortion-related activities from Title X funded services. In 1991 the Supreme Court held that the Gag Rule did not violate the First Amendment. Rust v. Sullivan, 500 U.S. 173 (1991). Despite this ruling, the Gag Rule remained extremely controversial and was never implemented nationwide. In 1993, President Clinton ordered the Secretary of Health and Human Services to suspend the Gag Rule and promulgate new rules. Title X regulations issued in 2000 officially revoked the Gag Rule and clarified that the provision of information about abortion services does not “promote or encourage” abortion and is therefore permissible. “Provision of Abortion-Related Services in Family Planning Services Projects,” 65 Fed. Reg. 41281 (2000).
6. 42 C.F.R. § 59.11.
7. Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981, Pub. L. No. 97-35, § 931(b)(1), 95 Stat. 570 (1981) (codified at 42 U.S.C. § 300(a) (1991)).
8. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Public Health and Science, Office of Population Affairs, Office of Family Planning, opa.osophs.dhhs.gov/titlex/ofp.html.
9. Family Planning Services & Population Research Act of 1970, Pub. L. No. 91-572, 84 Stat. 1504 (1970) (codified as amended at 42 U.S.C. §§ 300 et seq. (1991 & Supp. 2000)).
10. The Alan Guttmacher Institute, Facts In Brief, Induced Abortion (2003).
11. National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association, “Title X–America’s Federal Family Planning Program,” Aug. 8, 2003. See www.nfprha.org.
12. Issues In Brief, Nowhere But Up: Rising Costs for Title X Clinics,” The Alan Guttmacher Institute (2003).
13. Reddy, D., et al., Effect of Mandatory Parental Notification on Adolescent Girls’ Use of Sexual Health Care Services, JAMA, Vol. 288, No. 6 (Aug. 14, 2002).

Related Posts

Testimony of the Center for Reproductive Rights on the Graham-Cassidy-Heller-Johnson Proposal

The Center for Reproductive Rights respectfully submits the following testimony to the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance in strong opposition...

Abortion, Legal Restrictions, Other Barriers, Contraception, Legal Restrictions, Funding for Reproductive Healthcare, Other Financial Barriers, Right to Care, Maternal Health,United States,Engaging Policymakers

Center for Reproductive Rights Supplemental Testimony: HR 3 and HR 358

The Center for Reproductive Rights uses the law to advance reproductive freedom as a fundamental human right that all governments...

Abortion, Anti-Choice Harassment, Legal Restrictions, Funding for Reproductive Healthcare,United States,Engaging Policymakers, In Washington D.C.

Center for Reproductive Rights Testimony: H.R. 3

Center for Reproductive Rights Testimony Before the Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures, Committee on Ways and Means, United States House...

Abortion, Anti-Choice Harassment, Legal Restrictions, Funding for Reproductive Healthcare,United States,Engaging Policymakers, In Washington D.C.

Sign up for email updates.

The most up-to-date news on reproductive rights, delivered straight to you.

Footer Menu

  • Careers
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us

Center for Reproductive Rights
© (1992-2022)

Use of this site signifies agreement with our disclaimer and privacy policy.

Center for Reproductive Rights
This site uses necessary, analytics and social media cookies to improve your experience and deliver targeted advertising. Click "Options" or click here to learn more and customize your cookie settings, otherwise please click "Accept" to proceed.
OPTIONSACCEPT
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
CookieDurationDescription
_ga2 yearsThis cookie is installed by Google Analytics. The cookie is used to calculate visitor, session, campaign data and keep track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookies store information anonymously and assign a randomly generated number to identify unique visitors.
_gat_UA-6619340-11 minuteNo description
_gid1 dayThis cookie is installed by Google Analytics. The cookie is used to store information of how visitors use a website and helps in creating an analytics report of how the wbsite is doing. The data collected including the number visitors, the source where they have come from, and the pages viisted in an anonymous form.
_parsely_session30 minutesThis cookie is used to track the behavior of a user within the current session.
HotJar: _hjAbsoluteSessionInProgress30 minutesNo description
HotJar: _hjFirstSeen30 minutesNo description
HotJar: _hjid1 yearThis cookie is set by Hotjar. This cookie is set when the customer first lands on a page with the Hotjar script. It is used to persist the random user ID, unique to that site on the browser. This ensures that behavior in subsequent visits to the same site will be attributed to the same user ID.
HotJar: _hjIncludedInPageviewSample2 minutesNo description
HotJar: _hjIncludedInSessionSample2 minutesNo description
HotJar: _hjTLDTestsessionNo description
SSCVER1 year 24 daysThe domain of this cookie is owned by Nielsen. The cookie is used for online advertising by creating user profile based on their preferences.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
CookieDurationDescription
_fbp3 monthsThis cookie is set by Facebook to deliver advertisement when they are on Facebook or a digital platform powered by Facebook advertising after visiting this website.
fr3 monthsThe cookie is set by Facebook to show relevant advertisments to the users and measure and improve the advertisements. The cookie also tracks the behavior of the user across the web on sites that have Facebook pixel or Facebook social plugin.
IDE1 year 24 daysUsed by Google DoubleClick and stores information about how the user uses the website and any other advertisement before visiting the website. This is used to present users with ads that are relevant to them according to the user profile.
IMRID1 year 24 daysThe domain of this cookie is owned by Nielsen. The cookie is used for storing the start and end of the user session for nielsen statistics. It helps in consumer profiling for online advertising.
personalization_id2 yearsThis cookie is set by twitter.com. It is used integrate the sharing features of this social media. It also stores information about how the user uses the website for tracking and targeting.
TDID1 yearThe cookie is set by CloudFare service to store a unique ID to identify a returning users device which then is used for targeted advertising.
test_cookie15 minutesThis cookie is set by doubleclick.net. The purpose of the cookie is to determine if the user's browser supports cookies.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
CookieDurationDescription
adEdition1 dayNo description
akaas_MSNBC10 daysNo description
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional1 yearThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others1 yearNo description
geoEdition1 dayNo description
next-i18next1 yearNo description
SAVE & ACCEPT
Powered by CookieYes Logo
Scroll Up