Tennessee’s Attorney General, Jonathan Skrmetti, has filed a lawsuit against the federal government over the withholding of millions of dollars in family planning funds. The funds were withheld after Tennessee refused to comply with federal rules requiring clinics to provide abortion referrals due to the state’s ban on the procedure.
Skrmetti filed the complaint in U.S. District Court in Knoxville, seeking to overturn the decision made by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
In a statement, Skrmetti said, “We are suing to stop the federal government from playing politics with the health of Tennessee women. 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.”
Tennessee was disqualified from receiving federal dollars through the Title X family planning program earlier this year. The state has been a recipient of the program since it began in 1970, receiving around $7.1 million annually to support nearly 100 clinics that provide birth control and basic health care services to low-income women, many of whom come from minority communities.
However, the program has become entangled in the fight over abortion access. In 2021, the Biden administration reversed a ban on abortion referrals by clinics that accept Title X funds. Under the new rule, clinics cannot use federal family planning money for abortions but must offer information about abortion at the patient’s request.
The lawsuit alleges that the HHS did not inform officials how the new rule would apply in states with abortion restrictions after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, allowing Republican-led states like Tennessee to impose abortion bans.
In March, HHS informed Tennessee health officials that the state was out of Title X compliance due to its policy of barring clinics from providing information on pregnancy termination options that were not legal in the state. The state defended its policy and refused to back down, leading the federal government to declare that continuing to provide Title X funds to Tennessee was not in the government’s best interest.
As a result, HHS announced in September that Tennessee’s Title X funds would be directly funded to Planned Parenthood, which would then distribute the money to its clinics in the state.
Tennessee is now seeking to have its Title X money reinstated and to rule that HHS cannot withhold funds based on a state’s abortion ban. The state also wants clarity on whether it needs to use state funds to compensate for the federal portion.
Tennessee has been increasingly rejecting federal funding rather than complying with requirements on LGBTQ+ rights, abortion access, and other controversial issues. Republican lawmakers are even considering cutting off nearly $1.8 billion in federal education dollars, arguing that the state has sufficient revenue to cover the federal funding portion and that it would provide more flexibility without being restricted by regulations on LGBTQ+ rights, race, and other issues.
