The lawsuit, filed Thursday in federal court, names the Cumberland County-based Family Health Council of Central Pennsylvania as a plaintiff. It takes aim at a step added this year by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to applications for Title X grants, which provide local agencies with funds to aid low-income and uninsured patients with family planning and related health services.
The new process is detailed in the Title X 2027 Notice of Funding Opportunity published in April. It states that before applicants are assessed on their merits, a group of presidential appointees will conduct an “alignment review” to determine whether each application matches the agency’s “priorities.” The plan offers no opportunity to appeal the group’s decision.
“But you can’t just do it by a funding announcement,” Brigitte Amiri, deputy director at the ACLU’s Reproductive Freedom Project, told Spotlight PA. She said the Trump administration could overturn the Biden-era regulations by undertaking a public notice and comment rulemaking process.
The lawsuit argues that the new review step “subverts the integrity” of the Title X grant application process and enables HHS “to hijack” the Title X program to fund organizations furthering the agency’s “political agenda.”
The suit adds to a growing list of legal challenges against the Trump administration’s health policies. In recent months, Democratic-led states have sued over federal student loan caps affecting health care degrees, and veterans groups have challenged a reinstated near-ban on abortion access through the Department of Veterans Affairs.