Government favors natural family planning over contraception in key health funding

New 2027 guidelines by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will ban key federal abortion funding while favoring fertility education and natural family planning.

The April 3 “2027 Notice of Funding Opportunity” for Title X, the federal family planning grant program, bans funds from being used “in programs where abortion is a method of family planning.”

The move came days after the Trump administration released the fifth and final year of grant funding to Planned Parenthood under Title X, a decision that garnered criticism throughout the pro-life movement. The White House cited legal challenges for the controversial decision to continue the funding.

“The administration has issued the fifth and final year of Title X grants that were locked in place during the Biden presidency,” the White House told EWTN News in a statement. “The administration faced significant legal challenges in stopping any of these dollars from going out.”

Previous Republican administrations, including that of Trump’s first term, also banned abortion funding via Title X. What makes this year’s criteria unique is that it encourages fertility education in place of contraception.

The notice highlighted “fertility-awareness-based methods” or “natural family planning,” a method encouraged by the Catholic Church that involves tracking a woman’s biological markers to determine when ovulation occurs.

The administration also teased a new pro-family grant that will be announced soon.

“HHS will soon be releasing a new Title X funding opportunity for the next five-year funding cycle that prioritizes life and promotes the pro-family agenda,” the White House statement read.

The notice also promoted “body literacy” on fertility-related conditions, such as “education on menstrual cycle physiology, hormonal health, male and female fertility awareness, and early indicators of reproductive disorders such as endometriosis, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), thyroid dysfunction, metabolic disorders, and other conditions that often first emerge in adolescence.”

An estimated 1 in 10 women have endometriosis; 1 in 8 women develop a thyroid disorder; and roughly 1 in 10 have PCOS — all conditions that can negatively affect fertility and overall health.

“For example, endometriosis often goes undiagnosed for years because symptoms such as severe menstrual pain or irregular bleeding are frequently normalized or minimized,” the HHS notice read.

“Body literacy counseling helps patients recognize that these experiences are not ‘normal’ features” but instead “potential indicators of an underlying condition, prompting earlier discussion with providers, timely diagnosis, appropriate treatment, and improved long-term reproductive and overall health outcomes,” the notice continued.

The 2027 plan is not prioritizing contraception funding; instead the government said that contraception is part of an overreliance on “pharmaceutical and surgical treatments.”

The health department noted that fewer women than in previous years are using contraception (54% of reproductive-age women) and that “the most common reason women reported discontinuing use related to dissatisfaction was side effects.” For instance, hormonal contraception can cause depression in some patients, among other negative side effects.

“This approach has failed to adequately address the root causes of the nation’s chronic disease burden, resulting in ongoing health challenges that affect fertility, pregnancy outcomes, and long-term health outcomes,” the notice read.

HHS said it will focus instead on “underlying behavioral and lifestyle factors of health — such as nutrition, sleep, physical activity, stress management, and environmental factors.”

The White House told EWTN News that “the administration remains committed to realigning the Title X program with the president’s pro-life and pro-family agenda going forward.”

Michael New, an assistant professor of practice at the Busch School of Business at The Catholic University of America as well as a Charlotte Lozier Institute senior associate scholar, called the decrease in Planned Parenthood funding “a win for the pro-life movement,” though with a caveat.

“Cutting funding to Planned Parenthood may not have a large impact on the incidence of abortion in the short term due the increasing prevalence of telehealth abortions,” New said.

The professor also noted that “defunding contraception programs and supporting natural family planning is a win for pro-lifers.”

“Since the Title X program started in 1970, the federal government has spent hundreds of millions of dollars, if not billions of dollars, into promoting contraception,” New said. “This money has been poorly spent. Many places that distribute contraception also perform abortions, so some of this money indirectly funds abortion.”

“Many Catholics do not want their tax dollars spent on programs, such as contraception programs, they find morally objectionable,” New continued. “Even though many Americans support contraceptive use, pro-life Catholics would like the government to stay out of the issue: no funding, no mandates, no distribution. As such, defunding contraception programs has been a longtime policy goal for many pro-life Catholics.”

“​​Natural family planning, when done correctly, has a strong track record of success,” New said. “However, it has been marginalized in many secular public health circles. The fact that HHS is promoting natural family planning will give NFP more visibility and credibility.”

Source: https://www.ewtnnews.com/world/us/government-favors-natural-family-planning-over-contraception-in-key-funding