Letter signed by Hirono, Schatz and 34 of their U.S. Senate colleagues demands immediate release of Title X funding

U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono, a Hawai‘i Democrat, and 35 of her Senate colleagues sent U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. a letter demanding his agency take immediate action to protect Americans by restoring access to comprehensive family planning and services.

President Donald Trump’s administration last year withheld millions in funding for months from almost 1 in 5 Title X grantees, placing more than 840,000 people at risk of losing access to care and forcing some sites to close.

The letter urges Kennedy and Health and Human Services to award 1 year of full funding to extend all current Title X grantee funding.

Trump’s administration restored funding to these groups by December 2025; however, many grantees were forced to serve the same needs with less funding.

Title X funding is now set to lapse March 31.

The senators highlight the importance of program, which provides broader access to important services resulting in improved health outcomes such as lower maternal and infant mortality, fewer premature births and lower rates of cancer.

Title X since 1979 has offered lifesaving family planning and preventive health services for low-income or uninsured patients. Services include contraception, cervical cancer screenings, pregnancy testing and counseling as well as sexually transmitted infection testing and treatment.

“In short, these services not only make our communities healthier, but also improve educational and economic attainment for women and their families,” the letter says.

Health and Human Services typically releases non-compete continuation grant guidance in late December, giving grantees about 90 days to complete continuation applications  before funding is set to lapse.

The agency has so far not released any guidance or a notice of continuation of funding, creating widespread uncertainty.

If this administration fails to meet the April 1 deadline for releasing Title X dollars to current grantees, the repercussions could be catastrophic.

“Any gap in Title X funding could result in over 2 million patients losing access to contraception and preventative care, worsen maternal health outcomes and increase sexually transmitted infections,” lawmakers wrote. “It will also risk layoffs of essential healthcare providers and staff who provide care for patients at thousands of Title X clinics nationwide, worsening the national maternal and reproductive healthcare crisis.”

Senators concluded their letter by emphasizing the importance of releasing this funding and how this delay already caused uncertainty for clinics and patients throughout the nation.

“A lapse in funding caused by this administration would deny patients and their families the dignity of affordable health care and irreparably worsen the healthcare crisis that President Trump and Republicans in Congress have already exacerbated by enacting the largest cuts to health care in American history,” the letter says. “It is imperative that the department act now and issue a 1-year extension of Title X funding.”

Senators who signed the letter with Hirono were all Democrats and Independents, including her fellow Hawai‘i colleague U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz.

Read the full text of the letter online.