On Monday, Planned Parenthood said it received notice the Trump administration was freezing $35 million in Title X funds for nine of its affiliates nationwide. Idaho is set to lose about $550 000 in federal funding.
Established in the 1970s, Title X provides reproductive healthcare to low-income patients. It’s the only federal program that provides affordable birth control to impoverished people. The program also funds breast cancer screenings, STI testing and treatment and annual reproductive and sexual exams.
“it is important to understand that these funds already cannot be used for abortion care,” said Rebecca Gibron, the regional director for Planned Parenthood.
In January, President Trump signed an executive order to end federal funding to promote abortion.
“What this really is, is Donald Trump and Elon Musk appeasing their anti-abortion backers at the expense of people who need reproductive health care,” Gibron said, adding the cuts were a “cruel maneuver” from the administration.
In a press release, Planned Parenthood said 42% of their Idaho patients have incomes at or below the federal poverty Level, 19% identify as Black, Indigenous, or as people of color and 16% use Medicaid.
“These services are especially vital in rural and underserved areas, where Planned Parenthood and other Title X providers may be the only affordable option,” the organization’s wrote in their statement.
In reference to the dramatic loss of OBGYNs since Idaho banned almost all abortions and the shuttering of maternal care units in remote hospitals, Gibron said rural communities would be hit the hardest.
“There is already a fundamental crisis in the state of Idaho for access to reproductive health care,” Gibron said. “This attack by the Trump administration only exacerbates that for people in this state.”
Planned Parenthood serves about 5,300 patients a year in Idaho. The organization says the freeze will prevent 3,500, or 65% of them, from accessing affordable reproductive healthcare.
