Planned Parenthood plans to close two rural centers in Utah, a quarter of its locations in the state, after the Trump administration froze federal funds boosting the organization. 

The closures come after the Trump administration withheld millions in Title X funding from Planned Parenthood and other organizations on March 31. The Department of Health and Human Services said it is reviewing the funding to ensure it is not going to organizations providing services to illegal immigrants and to investigate concerns money may be flowing to entities violating civil rights laws and President Donald Trump’s executive orders, including prohibitions barring the federal government from promoting organizations that support diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. 

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“When the Title X news came to us, we were unhappy, shocked in a way, but not surprised,” Sarah Stoesz, the interim CEO for Planned Parenthood Association of Utah, told the Salt Lake Tribune. “We’ve been giving it a lot of thought for some time, and had been creating contingency plans. We didn’t know how deep the cut would be, we didn’t know how permanent it might be.”

The news meant $2.8 million in Title X funding slotted for the Planned Parenthood Association of Utah was withheld from the state, leading the organization to announce it is shuttering its center in Logan on April 30 and closing the St. George location on May 2. 

Title X is a federal grant program established in 1970 that provides comprehensive family planning and health services to low-income families. In 2022, HHS disbursed $16 million in Title X grants to Planned Parenthood regional groups, according to USA Facts. Organizations receiving Title X grants are barred from using taxpayer funds to pay for abortions.

Planned Parenthood state affiliates are the entities primarily affected by HHS’s move to freeze Title X grants comprising $27.5 million, according to Politico. 

This isn’t the first time Trump has targeted Title X funding. During his first term, the president’s administration revised regulations disqualifying organizations that carry out abortions from receiving Title X funds. The new policies also banned referrals to abortion providers, instead seeking to strengthen connections with crisis pregnancy centers. 

In response to HHS’s latest action, the president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Alexis McGill Johnson, accused Trump and Department of Government Efficiency leader Elon Musk of pushing a “dangerous political agenda, stripping health care access from people nationwide, and not giving a second thought to the devastation they will cause.” 

“We know what happens when health care providers cannot use Title X funding: People across the country suffer, cancers go undetected, access to birth control is severely reduced, and the nation’s STI crisis worsens,” Johnson said in a statement. “Planned Parenthood Action Fund will fight to get this funding restored and to keep politicians out of health care. People need affordable health care options. This cannot stand.” 

The Washington Examiner reached out to HHS for comment. 

Conservative groups that back family support services, including crisis pregnancy centers as an alternative to organizations such as Planned Parenthood, have praised the Trump administration for freezing many Title X funds. 

“Rather than helping people with families, Planned Parenthood sells never having one and abuses Title X funds to market their real product — abortion,” Kristan Hawkins, the president of Students for Life Action, told Catholic News Agency. “The Pro-Life Generation supports every effort that tells Planned Parenthood to go fund themselves.”

Planned Parenthood’s emphasis on “gender-affirming care” could be one of the DEI issues putting them in conflict with the White House. The organization is considered one of the largest providers of gender-affirming care in the U.S., handing out puberty blockers and other hormone therapies for transgender and nonbinary patients.

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The government “won’t have to look hard to find evidence of DEI practices at Planned Parenthood,” self-described anti-abortion activist Abby Johnson, a former Planned Parenthood worker, told the Christian Post. 

“It’s practically one of their creeds, so stripping that money away should be a small, easy win on behalf of taxpayers,” Johnson told the outlet.