A longtime Montana nonprofit reproductive and sexual health care clinic announced Wednesday that it — and not the state health department — was awarded more than $2 million in federal family planning money.
The Department of Public Health and Human Services has for 50 years been awarded and administrated the money, known as Title X funding, and distributed it through contracts to clinics around Montana.
But Bozeman-based Bridgercare said in a press release that state legislation passed last year would have prohibited it and other organizations like Planned Parenthood from receiving the federal funding if the state was granted this year's award.
During the 2021 legislative session, state Rep. Amy Regier, R-Kalispell, passed a bill that would have prohibited the department from entering into a contract with any organization that provided non-federally qualified abortions.
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The law, however, only applies to the state health department and cannot dictate how Bridgercare spends the funding. Bridgercare does not provide abortions.
"Bridgercare had serious concerns about the impact of new state restrictions on Title X funding and services. These concerns spurred us to develop an alternative to the Title X program that would exclude Bridgercare and other providers," said Stephanie McDowell, Bridgercare's executive director, in a press conference Wednesday.
In an email Wednesday, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said grants are awarded "through a competitive process to public and private nonprofit entities."
"A competitive funding announcement was published at Grants.gov announcing the competition. Eligible applicants were reviewed by a panel of independent reviewers and evaluated based on criteria in the Title X regulations," the spokesperson said.
In an emailed statement, the state health department said it was "disappointed" with the news.
"DPHHS is disappointed with the Biden administration's refusal to renew funding for this longstanding, successful state program," a spokesperson said.
"We recognize, however, that recent pro-abortion federal rule changes have distorted Title X and conflict with Montana law, as well as the Gianforte administration's priority of expanding primary care. The department will provide a transition and continuity for Title X-funded clinics and their clients."
The department said it was unable to answer further questions Wednesday "due to the recent nature of this news." Regier's bill also said primary care clinics should be prioritized for funding over clinics like Bridgercare.
In October last year, the Biden administration issued new regulations around Title X money, which replaced rules from the previous Trump administration. Biden reversed a Trump regulation that blocked funding for recipients that made referrals for abortions and disqualified clinics that were located where abortion services were provided. The Title X Family Planning Annual Report 2020 National Summary found the Trump administration's change led to the number of people accessing services dropping from 3.9 million to 1.5 million people between 2018-2020.
In a press release, the U.S. Department Health and Human Services said grants it awarded across the country Wednesday will "fill service gaps caused by more than a quarter of Title X providers withdrawing from the program over the past two and a half years in response to the previous administration’s Title X rule."
A report prepared by Democratic staff for the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee said in 2015 Montana had 26 sites funded by Title X money that provided care to 18,090 women and that Planned Parenthood centers served 43% of those women.
"If Planned Parenthood were excluded from Title X, all other types of Title X-funded sites in Montana would have to increase their contraceptive client caseloads by 74% to serve the women who currently obtain contraceptive care from Planned Parenthood health centers," according to the 2018 report.
Since the Trump administration's gag rule took effect in 2019, Planned Parenthood of Montana was not a participant in Title X programs.
McDowell said that will change going forward. In a statement Wednesday, Martha Fuller, the president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Montana, said that will increase access to family planning services for Montanans.
“Thanks to Bridgercare’s leadership, Montanans will once again be able to access the federal family program from the provider of their choice and without interference from extremist politicians. PPMT looks forward to coming back into the program to meet patient needs and in partnership with providers around the state," Fuller said.
Bridgercare said the network will start with eight providers at 16 locations and the capacity to serve 20,000 people. The grant is for five years and the organization can apply for increased funding in the future.
While some existing Title X clinics, including several in rural areas, chose to be a part of the state's application for the funding and not Bridgercare's, McDowell said Bridgercare will reach out to them to try to bring them under the Montana Family Planning network. The state health department's website listed 22 clinics on its Title X website.
Clinics that get funding do things like provide contraceptive services to men and women; perform pregnancy tests and cancer screenings; test for STDs and provide health education and referrals for other care.
Over the last two years in Montana, GOP lawmakers have passed legislation aimed at reducing access to abortions in the state. Three of the new laws are on hold while legal challenges against them play out. The state's Republican attorney general has challenged that preliminary injunction, and in court filings argued that state Supreme Court erred more than two decades ago when it found the Montana Constitution's privacy protections ensure access to pre-viability abortions here.
