The federal government has frozen millions of dollars for family planning services for 91 clinics in Mississippi pending an investigation into the nonprofit that receives and disburses the grant.
A March 31 letter from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services cites a 2020 statement made by the nonprofit Converge opposing racism and committing to diversity in health care in the wake of multiple deaths of Black men killed by police and the national outcry. The letter alleges that based on the group’s statement, it “could be in violation” of the terms of the award and parts of the federal civil rights law.
The statement includes the line: “Race, income, geography and/or identity should not determine whether a patient has access to high quality family planning care.”
Converge, which beat out the state Health Department for the funding in 2022, received the notification one day before they were set to receive the fourth year of their funding. The nonprofit receives about $4.5 million annually and funds services like screenings for breast and cervical cancer, intimate partner violence, and mental health problems, as well as contraceptive services.
Title X funding has been in place for over 50 years and provides a range of services related to helping people get pregnant, preventing pregnancy through birth control like long-acting contraception, STI testing and treatment, pregnancy testing and counseling and basic infertility services. It’s intended to ensure that every person, regardless of location, income or insurance status, has access to basic preventive reproductive health care.
Rates of unplanned and unintended pregnancies are higher for women in Mississippi than in other Southeastern states, according to a 2018 report from the Center for Mississippi Health Policy. The report specifically cites the importance of timely and inexpensive access to long acting reversible contraception such as IUDs and implants.
Mississippi also leads the nation in its rates of syphilis and HIV, in addition to other STIs.
“This is a safety net program. Any delay in funding will just exacerbate the extreme health care disparities and lack of access to care in Mississippi,” Converge Co-executive Director Jamie Bardwell said. “Clinics that rely on Converge – we aren’t able to offer them a new contract on April 1, so they can’t offer Title X services …”
Bardwell says Converge is one of seven nonprofits nationwide to receive such a letter, in addition to nine Planned Parenthood state affiliates.
HHS provided a list of documents Converge must provide within 10 days. They include “a copy of any policies related to the treatment of illegal aliens,” “a copy of any nondiscrimination policies,” and “a statement of positions on the concerns” outlined in the letter.
“They are asking for a wide range of documents – some are pretty straightforward, and some are things that just do not exist,” Bardwell said. “And they want this information from Converge and for the clinics that we give money to for Title X.”
Converge acts as the pass through for clinics in both Tennessee and Mississippi. Last year, over 30,000 people in both states received services funded by Title X. They also operate the state’s only telehealth program for contraception and at-home STD and HIV testing.
Bardwell says she and her colleagues are in the process of notifying the grant recipients of the funding freeze, and the nonprofit is trying to comply with the request as quickly as possible.
“We’re going to do everything in our power to show we for sure do not discriminate against anyone on the basis of race.”
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