The three Planned Parenthood clinics in Indianapolis are not affected by a Trump administration funding freeze.
That’s because the locations do not receive Title X grants, a type of federal funding halted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services this week. Millions in Title X grants meant for Planned Parenthood locations across the country are instead being frozen.
The Title X program is a bipartisan effort that has funded family planning and preventative services since 1970, especially for people at or below the federal poverty level. The money supports contraception access, check-ups and pregnancy resources for millions, as well as testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections. It cannot be used to provide abortions.
And while Indy’s locations are not affected, low-income Hoosiers in other parts of the state could lose access to health services, including birth control and cancer screenings.
In an email to Mirror Indy, an HHS spokesperson said the agency is investigating whether Planned Parenthood is “complying with federal law and President Trump’s executive orders.”
No final decision on spending changes for the funding have been made, according to an HHS official.
Lafayette, Hammond clinics impacted by funding freeze
All told, Planned Parenthood’s Indiana locations are at risk of losing about $500,000 in Title X grants, said Rebecca Gibron, CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawaii, Alaska, Indiana and Kentucky.
“Any disruption in funding will have a devastating impact,” Gibron told Mirror Indy. “It will decimate access to services and drive up the cost of health care for everyone.”
More than 3,000 low-income Hoosiers receive Title X services through Planned Parenthood, spokesperson Nicole Erwin said. She noted that two health clinics in Lafayette and Hammond are directly impacted by the funding freeze.
“No one is safe from this ongoing administration’s attempts to dismantle access to reproductive health care across the country,” she wrote in an April 1 news release.
CEO calls letter ‘politically motivated’
Gibron said she received a letter from the administration claiming Planned Parenthood had “possible violations” for serving undocumented immigrants and its commitment to “reproductive justice.”
In a follow-up email, Erwin shared parts of the letter, which said Planned Parenthood’s “public materials,” including documents and websites, may violate the Civil Rights Act.The letter suggested the organization “employs race in a negative manner” in hiring and patient care.
Gibron called the letter “politically motivated.”
“The Trump administration and Elon Musk think they should decide if, how and where we can get health care,” she said. “They’re using Planned Parenthood’s commitment to providing a safe and supportive environment as an excuse to attack our patients.”
This week, health centers will operate “business as usual,” Gibron said, while Planned Parenthood looks into legal options to fight the freeze.
Mirror Indy reporter Mary Claire Molloy covers health. Reach her at 317-721-7648 or email maryclaire.molloy@mirrorindy.org. Follow her on X @mcmolloy7.
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