Maine has joined a coalition of 23 primarily Democratic-led states in challenging the Trump administration’s new conditions for Title X grant funding.
Title X is a federal grant program dedicated to supporting and improving access to family planning services, particularly for low-income individuals, and was signed into law by former President Richard Nixon in 1970.
Funding under this program cannot be used to pay for abortions, but it may cover other reproductive health services, including cancer and sexually transmitted disease screenings, as well as various preventive health care measures.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, challenges new requirements that states and providers must meet to receive Title X funding, including ending diversity, equity and inclusion policies.
Title X recipients would also have to recognize patients solely by biological sex and, according to the states bringing the lawsuit, could face penalties for providing services considered to be “gender-affirming care.”
The lawsuit also argues that states and providers could face penalties if they do not emphasize abstinence and natural family planning over contraception.
In the filing, the plaintiffs argue that the new rules will force clinic closures and that states “will bear the substantial costs of increased health care needs caused by worsened immediate and long-term health outcomes.”
Under the new conditions being challenged, states and providers must “maintain strict separation from prohibited activities” and contribute to broader HHS efforts to “safeguard life-affirming, lawful, and ethical program delivery” in order to remain eligible for Title X funding.
The terms also state that priority will go to programs that “do not use taxpayer resources to promote or support elective abortion.”
“As access to health insurance is becoming increasingly prohibitive, Title X provides critical health care services to low-income Mainers across the state every day,” Attorney General Aaron Frey said in a written statement.
“The federal government is waging an ideological attack on Title X funding through these conditions,” he said. “This suit will ensure Title X funds continue to flow as directed by Congress without unlawful interference by the President.”
HHS told the press it cannot comment on pending litigation.
[RELATED: Maine’s $500M Supplemental Budget Takes Effect]
As part of Maine’s most recent supplemental budget, the state established millions of dollars in ongoing funding for “reproductive health care and family planning” providers in the case that Title X funding was limited.
Gov. Janet Mills (D) announced in January that she would support such a measure, saying she wanted to “offset the impacts of Federal funding cuts implemented by the Trump Administration and Congressional Republicans.”
The language included in Part Z of the amended supplemental budget substitutes state funding for Title X grant recipients in the event that federal money should be restricted or rescinded, as well as if the grantee withdraws from the program due to the “imposition of conditions attached to the funding.”
Does anyone know how many lawsuits against the Trump Administration Maine has “joined?”