Federal funding previously lost by the state will be returned, but it is not headed to the state health department. Instead, that money will be funneled through Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi.
In April, an audit showed that medical providers in Tennessee did not meet federal guidelines regarding “reproductive healthcare” information, and federal Title X funding was taken from the state. Federal regulations require that providers provide information on all options, including abortion, when counseling patients.
The state argued that they were in the right for only counseling patients on the options that were legal in Tennessee and that they did not have to discuss options that are legal elsewhere in the country.
After the federal funding was stripped, Governor Bill Lee proposed a budget amendment of $7.5 million in recurring funding, along with another $1.8 million in non-recurring funding, to supplement this fiscal year.
