Wisconsin Department of Justice Challenges Illegal Trump Administration Conditions on Funding for Reproductive Health Care, Cancer Screenings

Wisconsin's Attorney General joined a coalition of 22 other states in filing suit to block new federal funding conditions attached to Title X grants. In July 2026, HHS published a new five-year funding notice imposing conditions that require applicants to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion practices; exclude transgender individuals from nondiscrimination protections; discourage contraception in favor of natural family planning; and counsel all patients toward marriage and parenthood rather than providing neutral, patient-centered guidance. Providers that do not comply with these conditions risk losing their Title X funding entirely. The coalition alleges that the new conditions conflict with Title X's governing statute and implementing regulations, which require grantees to offer a broad range of contraceptive methods, provide nondirective counseling, and serve all patients, including LGBTQ+ individuals, in a nondiscriminatory manner. The coalition further alleges that HHS imposed the conditions without the notice-and-comment rulemaking process required by the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 5 U.S.C. § 553. The coalition also raises a constitutional Spending Clause challenge, arguing that the conditions are so vague that providers cannot reasonably determine what compliance requires, in violation of the limits the Spending Clause places on the federal government's ability to attach unclear or unrelated strings to federal funding. In Wisconsin alone, Title X funding served more than 7,300 clients in 2025. The coalition asks the court to declare the new political conditions unlawful, enjoin HHS from enforcing them, and preserve Title X funding for state health agencies and qualified providers under the program's existing rules. Attorneys general from California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington join Wisconsin, along with the governors of Pennsylvania and Kentucky.