Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) are leading 17 Republican colleagues in introducing a bill on Thursday that would ban Title X grants from funding abortions and abortion providers, Breitbart News has exclusively learned.
“Taxpayers should not have to spend a penny on abortions,” Blackburn said. “The Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act would protect life and stop federal funds from going to entities that perform abortions by closing loopholes in federal law.”
“Louisiana families want their tax dollars to support families, not abortion businesses that kill unborn babies and hurt mothers,” added Dr. Cassidy, who is the chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee. “I’m proud to co-lead this bill to end a policy that subsidizes Planned Parenthood on the taxpayers’ dime.”
The Title X Family Planning Program is supposed to help low-income women access family planning services, although it has been hijacked repeatedly to subsidize organizations like Planned Parenthood that perform abortions. While federal law prohibits taxpayer dollars from funding abortions, a Clinton-era rule in the Public Health Service Act requires all grantees to refer patients for abortions and to allow abortion facilities to be located in the same places as Title X clinics.
As a result, Planned Parenthood clinics that receive federal family planning funds can share the same facility, staff, and waiting room as abortion clinics, and often refer women for on-site abortions, Blackburn’s office said.
The Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act seeks to close those loopholes by amending the Public Health Service Act to prohibit the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from providing Title X grants or other federal funds to entities that perform abortions.
The bill would also strip big abortion organizations like Planned Parenthood of taxpayer funding “that ought to go to comprehensive healthcare alternatives instead,” Blackburn’s office added. The bill would further require HHS to report annually to Congress about grantees who perform abortions under exceptions for rape, incest, and serious physical injury.
The bill is endorsed by several leading pro-life groups, including National Right to Life and Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America.
“Taxpayer dollars should never be used to subsidize the abortion industry. Senator Blackburn’s Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act restores a clear and commonsense boundary by ensuring that family planning funds are directed to providers that offer genuine, life-affirming care,” National Right to Life President Carol Tobias said in a statement. “For too long, abortion providers have received federal support while continuing to profit from abortion. National Right to Life is proud to support Senator Blackburn’s leadership on this important measure.”
“Title X has long served as a slush fund for the Big Abortion industry, led by Planned Parenthood. In 2024 alone, abortion businesses ended the lives of an estimated 1.1 million unborn babies,” added the Hon. Marilyn Musgrave, VP of Government Affairs at Susan B. Anthony Pro- Life America.
“Thank you, Senator Blackburn, for championing this important legislation to permanently stop Title X dollars from going to these bad actors and protect American taxpayers from being forced to fund the abortion industry,” she continued.
This legislation is co-sponsored by Sens. James Lankford (R-OK), Steve Daines (R-MT), Jim Risch (R-ID), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Katie Britt (R-AL), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Deb Fischer (R-NE), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Todd Young (R-IN), John Barrasso (R-WY), Roger Marshall (R-KS), and Kevin Cramer (R-ND).
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.
