Attorney General Weiser sues to protect federal funding for family planning and preventive health care

Attorney General Weiser sues to protect federal funding for family planning and preventive health care

Aug. 27, 2026 (DENVER) - Attorney General Phil Weiser today joined a coalition in suing to block new unlawful conditions on Title X funding, which supports reproductive health care, family planning, cancer screenings, and other preventive care for millions of Americans. The new policy threatens access to affordable, high-quality health care by penalizing states and providers that refuse to abandon nondiscrimination initiatives or conform their programs to the Trump administration's ideological vision of family planning.

"The Trump administration is holding critical health care funding hostage if we don't comply with their political agenda," said Attorney General Weiser. "Title X provides essential health care to Coloradans who may otherwise struggle to access it, and threatening that care with unlawful conditions is unacceptable. We will continue standing up for access to these vital services and holding the federal government accountable when it oversteps its authority."

Title X is the only federal grant program dedicated specifically to family planning and related preventive health services. For more than 50 years, it has helped millions of low-income patients access contraception, cancer screenings, sexually transmitted infection testing and treatment, pregnancy testing and counseling, and other preventive care.

In July, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a funding notice for the next five-year grant cycle requiring applicants to align their programs with a sweeping set of political priorities to receive or keep federal funds. The conditions include eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion practices; excluding and stigmatizing transgender people; discouraging contraception in favor of natural family planning; requiring clinics to counsel patients toward marriage and parenthood rather than providing neutral, patient-centered guidance; and complying with unrelated priorities such as "ending crime and disorder on America's streets." Providers that do not comply risk losing their funding.

In fiscal year 2026, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment received nearly $4 million in federal Title X family planning services funding, accounting for approximately 44% of Colorado's total budget for the program.

Attorney General Weiser and the coalition argue that the new HHS conditions conflict with federal law and regulations requiring Title X providers to offer a broad range of contraceptive methods, provide nondirective counseling, and serve all patients in an inclusive and nondiscriminatory manner. The lawsuit also argues that HHS imposed the conditions without the notice-and-comment process required under the Administrative Procedure Act and that the conditions are unconstitutionally vague.

The coalition is asking the court to block HHS from enforcing the new conditions and preserve access to Title X funding under the program's existing rules.

Joining Attorney General Weiser in filing the lawsuit, which was led by the attorneys general of New York, Maryland, and Massachusetts, are the attorneys general of California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawai'i, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin, as well as the governors of Pennsylvania and Kentucky.

Read the complaint (PDF).

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