Meanwhile, the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Population Affairs is the subject of two lawsuits, NPR reports - one from Planned Parenthood and another from National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association and the American Civil Liberties Union.
The lawsuits objects that the Office of Population Affairs guidance, released in February and known as a Federal Opportunity Announcement, does not specifically mention contraception but does mention "fertility awareness" in its call for a broad range of family planning services under Title X.
In February of this year, the HHS department also announced $260 million available for family planning methods and services, and included contraception explicitly.
Planned Parenthood's lawsuit seeks to block the guidance document. The suit was filed on behalf of its affiliates in Utah and Ohio. These are states where Planned Parenthood serves a majority of patients who benefit from Title X.
Tanya Atkinson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, claimed the policy was a "radical shift that could have a big impact on people's health." As written, she said, it "flies in the face of the best medical practice."
Clare Coleman, president & CEO of the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association, told National Public Radio the approach was "disrespectful" to low-income parents and undermines Title X because, in his view, it has a "narrow, ideological vision of how people should live their lives," including the view that there should be no sex until marriage.
Among the critics of the lawsuits was Mallory Quigley, vice president of communications for the Susan B. Anthony List. She charged that Planned Parenthood's lawsuit was "ridiculous."
Speaking to NPR, she similarly claimed that Planned Parenthood treats the Title X Family Program as "their personal slush fund" to which "only they are entitled for propping up their massive abortion enterprise."