Today, Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07), Congressman Josh Gottheimer, Congresswoman Judy Chu, and Congresswoman Sharice Davids led 93 of their House colleagues in sending a letter to Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy that urges the Trump administration to unfreeze funding for Title X family planning that Congress had previously set aside for the program.  The effort comes on the eve of the 60th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Griswold v. Connecticut, which established the constitutional right for married couples to use to contraception.

“As we reflect on the significance of Griswold, we must not turn a blind eye to the broader mounting threats to our reproductive freedoms,” the members wrote.  “Both contraception and abortion are essential health care services and part of a full range of sexual and reproductive health care that allow every American the freedom to make decisions about our own bodies and their own futures.  The overturning of Roe v. Wade dealt a direct blow to people’s privacy rights, access to health care, including imperiling access to contraception.  In a world where access to abortion is severely limited or not accessible at all, it is even more important for people who want to prevent pregnancy to be able to affordably and easily access it from trusted family planning providers of their choice.  That is why Title X is so important.  Title X has historically received broad bipartisan support and has been funded by Congress every year since 1970 because we recognize what Griswold holds true: that all individuals should have the freedom to make decisions about their own bodies and lives. 

“On March 31, 2025, your Department notified 16 Title X grantees — representing networks of health care providers in 23 states — that their funding was being withheld until an investigation over ‘possible violations’ of grant terms and conditions, specifically federal civil rights laws and executive orders, could be undertaken,” the members continued.  “More than two months later, these grantees remain without funding and have received no communication from the Administration regarding the status of the investigations, the expected timeline, or the future of their funding.  In that time, several of these entities have been forced to furlough or layoff staff, limit available services or charge for services that were previously available to low-income individuals at low or no cost, and shutter health centers.  Congress has already appropriated these funds, and the Administration has a responsibility to distribute them without undue delay or obstruction, ensuring that critical care is not disrupted for millions of people who rely on Title X services.”

To read the full text of the letter, click here.

This week, Congresswoman Fletcher also led a letter with her Democratic colleagues to increase funding for the Title X program in the upcoming appropriations legislation in her continued fight to support reproductive freedom and access to quality, affordable health care and family planning services.