A Gut Punch to Reproductive
Health Care on Central Coast
Trump Administration Cuts Off Around $500,000 in
Title X Funding for Planned Parenthood and
Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics
By Callie Fausey | May 1, 2025
Read more from our Reign of Administrative (T)error cover story.
Support for family-planning medical services was cut off with the Trump Administration’s withholding of Title X funds, effective on April 1. On the Central Coast, that limits what services local clinics — including Planned Parenthood and Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics — can offer to low-income patients.
Title X was enacted in 1970 with bipartisan support to aid reproductive and sexual health care providers across the country and ensure that people can access care no matter their socioeconomic status. Losing these funds was a gut punch to providers nationwide.
Planned Parenthood California Central Coast receives an average of $390,000 in Title X grant funds per year, which backs education programs and sliding fee scales for patients who may not be able to afford care otherwise.
“This is a program we’ve relied on for decades,” said Luz Reyes-Martín, vice president of advocacy and engagement.
The funds are not used for abortion services, but for other essentials, such as affordable birth control and cervical cancer screenings.
Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics (SBNC) also receives an average of $120,000 per year from Title X, which ensures access to preventative health services and family planning, such as prevention against sexually transmitted infections and treatment for their uninsured patients.
Having gained an administration that is “hostile to reproductive health care,” Reyes-Martín said, they knew the threat of losing Title X funds “was very, very real.” Title X was gutted during the last Trump Administration, she said, but with “ample notice” and time to stitch together a safety net. However, this time, she said the funds were ripped away “overnight,” with no warning, making their next steps unclear.
“At SBNC, we will strive to continue offering those services as permitted … but the next steps at this point are not clear for us either,” said SBNC’s CEO, Dr. Mahdi Ashrafian.
Despite the uncertainty, Reyes-Martín said they intend to engage in conversation with Governor Gavin Newsom and state and local legislators to potentially secure temporary funding and help backfill some of the loss.
“No matter what, our doors are staying open,” she emphasized. “We saw patients yesterday. We’re seeing patients today, and we’ll see them tomorrow, and that is not going to change. We are going to do everything we can to continue to safeguard these rights and access to health care as long as we possibly can.”
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