Documents show that top Tennessee health officials attempted to oust Planned Parenthood from a program designed to prevent and treat HIV before deciding to forgo federal funding for it
FILE - Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee answers questiong during a panel discussion at the Republican Governors Association conference on Nov. 15, 2022, in Orlando, Fla. According to a letter from Planned Parenthood, Tennessee's Department of Health in November alerted the organization that it would no longer receive HIV prevention grants starting in 2023, as well as warn that the state was terminating its partnership with the organization to provide HIV testing.
The document states that United Way — which distributes the HIV federal funding grant on the health agency's behalf — said the department wanted to sever ties with Planned Parenthood “for reasons wholly unrelated to the purpose of the program.” The department’s move was a shock to many of the participating organizations tasked with providing vital HIV services across the state. Planned Parenthood, which has worked with the state to distribute free condoms for more than a decade, declared that Republican Gov. Bill Lee’s administration was choosing the “nuclear option” in order to avoid having to work with the organization.
“The funding for this HIV prevention program is very important and it’s important that it is spent effectively and efficiently in the ways that best serve Tennessee,” Lee told reporters Friday. “We think we can do that better than the strings attached with the federal dollars that came our way and that’s why we made that decision.”
Separately, Lee appointed Ralph Alvarado as the new health commissioner in late November. Alvarado is a former Kentucky state senator who has publicly opposed most abortion access. Alvarado officially took over the role on Monday, just two days before the department announced it would cut off the HIV federal funding.
Lamar added that public health efforts have helped slow the spread of HIV in Tennessee and that cutting off federal funding “endangers the lives of Tennesseans.”
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