Federal Title X funds that historically supported family planning services for low-income patients through Tennessee health departments will now be rerouted to Planned Parenthood health centers and partner nonprofits across the state.
While no such partner exists in the Chattanooga region, Ashley Coffield, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi, said via spokesperson that it’s possible a share of the funds will support family planning services in Southeast Tennessee in the future.
For more than 50 years, Title X grant funds had covered contraceptive products, pregnancy testing and counseling, infertility services, and sexually transmitted infection testing and treatment, among other services, through the Tennessee Department of Health. Those funds were then distributed to health departments across the state, including two clinics in Hamilton County and numerous others across Southeast Tennessee.