The National Association of Certified Professional Midwives (NACPM) condemns the Trump administration’s abrupt decision to freeze tens of millions in Title X family planning funds. This move threatens the health, safety, and autonomy of millions while directly undermining birth centers, midwives, and the communities we serve.
On April 1st, the administration halted funding for a network of clinics, including midwifery practices and birth centers, across the country. Title X is the only federal program solely dedicated to affordable preventive health services and family planning. It helps ensure that people who are uninsured, underinsured, or living with the impacts of poverty and systemic inequity can access birth control, STI care, and cancer screenings.
Clinics and birth centers already operating with limited resources are now being forced to make impossible choices. At The Midwife Center in Pittsburgh, Title X has supported contraceptive access, sliding-scale fees, and culturally responsive care. Director of Midwifery Emily McGahey explained in a longer statement:
“Decreasing these services will negatively impact our community… this funding freeze has a devastating effect on not only our birth center and community but on other clinics, communities, and individuals nationwide.”
The consequences of this freeze are immediate and far-reaching. It puts essential care at risk for those who rely on it most and punishes providers who are doing the work to deliver respectful, compassionate, person-centered care in places that need it most.
We call on our members, partners, midwifery advocates, and elected officials to act now. Reinstating Title X funding is urgent. The future of midwifery-led, community-based reproductive care, and the ability of individuals to make informed decisions about their bodies and their lives, depends on it.
What can you do? Call and email your legislators today. Urge them to reinstate Title X funding and protect reproductive health care.
Use this link to look up your House Representative and your two Senators.
Use this email template and call script to reach your lawmakers today.
For questions or comments, please contact Zev Colsen, Legislative and Policy Advisor at NACPM, at advocacy@nacpm.org .