{"id":299534,"date":"2023-09-30T15:33:42","date_gmt":"2023-09-30T20:33:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=299534"},"modified":"2023-10-03T16:19:22","modified_gmt":"2023-10-03T21:19:22","slug":"hhs-titlex-funding-tennessee-planned-parenthood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/hhs-titlex-funding-tennessee-planned-parenthood\/","title":{"rendered":"HHS takes millions in funding from Tennessee, gives to Planned Parenthood instead"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Millions of dollars in federal aid originally earmarked for the state of Tennessee has been sent to Planned Parenthood instead.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In April, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) <\/span>announced<\/span><\/a> that it was withholding millions in Title X grants because the state would not require physicians to refer patients for abortions that are illegal in the state. Now, the roughly $8 million that would have gone to the state health department is being funneled to Planned Parenthood.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe federal government is denying Tennessee funding that has supported critical maternal and family care for thousands of Tennesseans for decades,\u201d Jade Byers, a spokeswoman for Gov. Bill Lee, told Live Action News in April when the HHS decision was announced. \u201cAs we discuss next steps with the Attorney General\u2019s office, Governor Lee will fulfill his commitment to serving families by proposing to amend the state budget to include state dollars to fill the void caused by the federal government\u2019s decision.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In that vein, Lee did <\/span>propose<\/span><\/a> a budget amendment of $7.5 million in recurring funding, and an extra $1.8 million in non-recurring funding, to make up for loss funding in the current fiscal year. He expressed his displeasure with the news that the federal money would now head to Planned Parenthood.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe federal government decided to cut those funds off to Tennessee and what that did was it left women and children at risk that we wanted to serve,\u201d Lee <\/span>said<\/span><\/a> Tuesday.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to Commercial Appeal, under the deal, $3.9 million will be sent to the Virginia League for Planned Parenthood, which will funnel the money to Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and Northern Mississippi (PPTNM). Another $3.9 million will go to Converge, Inc. a reproductive health organization out of Mississippi that will also direct the money to Planned Parenthood.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ashley Colfield, <\/span>the president and CEO of PPTNM, praised the money\u2019s reassignment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n