Hawley Sends Letter to HHS Urging Reversal of Title X Grants to Planned Parenthood

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Friday, April 03, 2026
WASHINGTON— Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.)senta letter to the Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in response to the agency’s decision to extend Biden-era Title X grants for Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider. This action comes despitepromisesSecretary Kennedy made to Senator Hawley in his 2025 confirmation hearing.
“I write to express my alarm at the recent decision to release another year of Title X grant funding to abortion providers. These grants, originally approved by the Biden Administration, will now directly subsidize organizations like Planned Parenthood that perform hundreds of thousands of abortions each year. I urge you to reverse course,”Senator Hawley wrote.He continued,“​During your confirmation hearing last January, I asked if you would reinstate the first Trump Administration’s rule preventing Title X funding for entities that perform abortions. To your credit, you answered unequivocally: “yes.” But to my knowledge, no rulemaking process appears to have yet begun. And taxpayer money continues to flow to abortion providers.”
Senator Hawley has previouslyintroducedlegislation to ban all federal tax dollars from flowing to Planned Parenthood.Read the full letterhereor below.
The Honorable Robert F. Kennedy Jr.U.S. Department of Health and Human Services200 Independence Avenue, S.W.Washington, DC 20201Dear Secretary Kennedy:I write to express my alarm at the recent decision to release another year of Title X grant funding to abortion providers. These grants, originally approved by the Biden Administration, will now directly subsidize organizations like Planned Parenthood that perform hundreds of thousands of abortions each year. I urge you to reverse course.As you know, Congress has long intended to protect taxpayer monies from funding abortions. During the first Trump Administration, HHS finalized the “Protect Life Rule” in 2019, which required federal grant recipients to maintain clear physical and financial separation between Title X-funded projects and abortion services. It worked. Planned Parenthood voluntarily withdrew from the program rather than comply, and tens of millions of dollars in Title X funds were redirected to community health centers and other providers that offer family planning services without promoting abortion. In its zeal to pacify the abortion industry, the Biden Administration rescinded that rule. Your predecessor at HHS then gave unprecedented 5-year grants to abortion providers under the family planning grant program.During your confirmation hearing last January, I asked if you would reinstate the first Trump Administration’s rule preventing Title X funding for entities that perform abortions. To your credit, you answered unequivocally: “yes.” But to my knowledge, no rulemaking process appears to have yet begun. And taxpayer money continues to flow to abortion providers.So that Congress can conduct appropriate oversight, please provide written responses to the following questions by April 30, 2026.
Sincerely,Josh HawleyUnited States Senator

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