What is Title X?

As the nation’s only dedicated source of federal funding for family planning services, Title X (“Title Ten”) provides high-quality sexual and reproductive health services to people who are uninsured or have low incomes who may otherwise lack access to health care. Annually, the national Title X network provides healthcare to nearly 4 million adults and teens. Title X is administered by the federal Office of Population Affairs within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 

The History

1970

Title X of the Public Health Service Act was established in 1970 with broad bipartisan support. The law was influenced by research emerging at the time which showed: 

  • Many American women, especially low-income women, had more children than they desired.

  • Inequitable access to contraceptives was largely responsible for the difference between lower- and higher-income women’s ability to have their desired number of children.

  • Closely-spaced and unintended pregnancies were linked with negative health outcomes. President Nixon signed Title X into law based on the principle that “no American woman should be denied access to family planning assistance because of her economic condition.” 

1972

In 1972, Title X came to Montana through the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services. Many of the clinics in our network today have been with Title X since it came to the state. 

 Over the years, Title X has been updated and revised to make it the program it is today, including provisions to keep services affordable using a sliding fee scale; provide high-quality care for adolescents, males, and people across the gender spectrum; and address infertility, sexually transmitted infections, and cancer and HIV prevention. 

2022

In 2022, Montana Family Planning became the sole administrator of Title X funds for the state of Montana. Working collaboratively with the existing network and the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, Montana Family Planning worked to keep the state’s Title X network intact and ensure continuity of services across the state. 

Our Impact

Note: To demonstrate the average impact of Montana Family Planning’s network, data are from 2018.