The Trump administration has quietly confirmed it will extend Biden-era Title X grants to Planned Parenthood for one final year, citing legal obstacles it says made stopping the money impossible.
White House spokesman Kush Desai confirmed the decision Tuesday to The Daily Wire. “The administration has issued the fifth and final year of Title X grants that were locked in place during the Biden presidency,” Desai said. “The administration faced significant legal challenges in stopping any of these dollars from going out.”
Desai was quick to add that the grants cannot, by law, be used for abortions, and that this marks the end of the funding cycle. HHS will release a new Title X funding opportunity for the next five years, one the White House says will be “realigned” with Trump’s pro-life and pro-family agenda.
Pro-life leaders aren’t buying the explanation.
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of SBA Pro-Life America, called it “an inexplicable slap in the face to the pro-life GOP base.” She noted that three out of four GOP base voters support defunding Planned Parenthood, and warned the decision carries real electoral consequences. “One third of those voters say they’d be less enthusiastic about voting this November if the GOP abandons pro-life policies,” she said.
Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life, posted sharply on X: “Let’s talk about that. If we are going to claim we must follow ‘the rules’ to fund abortion vendors, then we should also enforce the law that prohibits mailing Chemical Abortion Pills. The Comstock Act is already federal law, and it makes it ILLEGAL to traffic dangerous abortion drugs by mail. That law is being ignored thousands of times every single day.”
The administration does point to real achievements. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are executing the One Big Beautiful Bill’s defunding of Planned Parenthood through Medicaid. The White House has also cut millions in taxpayer funding for the international abortion industry. Desai emphasized the administration “remains committed to realigning the Title X program with the President’s pro-life and pro-family agenda going forward.”
