WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) — The Trump administration has backed down on a portion of the funding it has denied to Planned Parenthood, restoring tens of millions of dollars to the abortion giant in the face of a lawsuit.
Last year, the federal government froze $120 million in federal Title X “family-planning” grants to organizations suspected of not complying with the administration’s executive orders against involvement with diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. The move did not specifically target Planned Parenthood or abortion, but covered approximately $20 million received by Planned Parenthood locations across a dozen states.
The abortion lobby and others sued, and Politico reports that the far-left American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has withdrawn its lawsuit in response to the Trump administration quietly restoring the funding in question last month. In a December 19 court filing, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said without elaboration that “the review is completed, and all grants at issue for Plaintiff’s members have been restored […] this matter can be voluntarily dismissed in light of the restoration of the remaining grants.”
“More than 800 service sites were unable to provide Title X services. Hundreds of thousands of patients were unable to get Title X services. So the impact was tremendous,” responded Brigitte Amiri, deputy director of the ACLU’s “Reproductive Freedom Project.” “So damage certainly was done as a result of their unlawful withholding of the funds.”
Many pro-life voices took to social media to voice their displeasure:
.@Politico reports tens of millions of Title X dollars were quietly restored to Planned Parenthood.
The Protect Life Rule from the 1st Trump admin stopped Big Abortion businesses from using Title X taxpayer $$ as a slush fund. Biden canceled it.
The Trump admin must immediately…
— SBA Pro-Life America (@sbaprolife) January 14, 2026
RFK strikes again.
Don’t forget… Over the years he helped raise tons of money for Planned Parenthood. His wife was a major sponsor at one point.
Why are any of you surprised? https://t.co/AXdkD1RGLN
— Pradheep J. Shanker, M.D. (@neoavatara) January 14, 2026
“If you’re not willing to stand up to the left on abortion, you can’t be trusted on anything else. The pro-life position is the pro-people position and I’m proud to be 100% pro-life.” – @JDVance, 02/18/2022 https://t.co/ycUmYdgxqA pic.twitter.com/scHeuwQKX6
— Jason Hart (@jasonahart) January 14, 2026
The retreat does not affect the majority of the Trump administration’s abortion defunding actions, which are still in effect and being defended from legal challenge, but come at a particularly sensitive moment in relations between the White House and the pro-life movement.
Within weeks of returning to office, President Donald Trump began enforcing the Hyde Amendment, which bans direct federal funding for most abortions, reinstated the Mexico City Policy, which forbids non-governmental organizations from using taxpayer dollars for most abortions abroad, and cut millions in pro-abortion subsidies by freezing U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) spending.
In July, Trump signed into law his controversial “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (BBB), a wide-ranging policy package that includes a one-year ban on federal tax dollars going through Medicaid to any entity that commits abortions for reasons other than rape, incest, or supposed threats to the mother’s life.
These cuts have significantly impacted the bottom line of Planned Parenthood, which is currently in court to try to stop the federal government from cutting it off. According to Operation Rescue, 54 abortion facilities shut their doors in 2024, 36 of which were Planned Parenthood locations.
However, Trump recently called that record into question when he told a gathering of House Republicans “you’ve got to be a little flexible on Hyde” for the sake of reaching a deal in the narrowly-divided Congress on health care reform, an issue which has picked up steam in recent weeks due to the recent expiration of subsidies under the so-called Affordable Care Act (better known as Obamacare). The declaration sparked alarm and protest from pro-life leaders and activists, many of whom framed Hyde as one of the federal government’s most basic and non-negotiable pro-life obligations.
When asked about the comment the next day, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt denied any change in position and touted the second Trump administration’s record so far of opposing taxpayer funding of abortion, but did not specifically rule out some sort of compromise on Hyde in healthcare negotiations, leaving the controversy unresolved.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, a firm Trump ally, stated simply in response to questions, “we are not going to change the standard that we’re not going to use taxpayer funding for abortion. I’m just not going to allow that to happen.” Abortion funding reportedly remains the main sticking point in negotiations to restore expired ACA subsidies.