(WSIL) -- Illinois has received $5.4 million in grant funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that will support and expand access to family planning services for low-income populations across the state.听
The grant, along with $5.8 million in state funds, adds up to around $11.2 million in funding will be allocated to 29 delegate agencies that operate 98 family planning clinics.听
The new HHS grant to the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) will support access to Title X services under the Illinois Family Planning Program. Previously a "gag rule" blocked family planning clinics from referring patients to abortion providers.听
Title X provides services such as听听HIV prevention and testing, breast and cervical cancer screening and treatment, and reproductive health care for thousands of low-income, uninsured and under-insured Illinois residents and families each year.听
鈥淲e are grateful to the Department of Health and Human Services and the Biden Administration for supporting our efforts to ensure that low-income people and those who are under-insured have access to the full range of high-quality and affordable family planning services they need,鈥澨�said听Shannon Lightner, IDPH Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Director of the Office of Women鈥檚 Health and Family Services.听鈥淲e know that these services are critically important to the health, safety, and wellbeing of thousands of women, individuals and families across Illinois.
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