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Two major organizations that promote birth control filed lawsuits in federal court Wednesday seeking to block the Trump administration from shifting national family planning policy to stress abstinence and potentially limit counseling for adolescents. One of the suits was filed by Planned Parenthood , which serves 41 percent of the 4 million low-income Americans who receive subsidized services through the Title X family-planning program. The other suit was filed by the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association , which contends the policy shift would reduce access to the most effective contraceptive methods and result in more unintended pregnancies. (Crary, 5/2)

Planned Parenthood, whose health centers serve more than 40 percent of patients receiving care subsidized by Title X, in its lawsuit contended that the changes violate the law that created the program and were "arbitrary and capricious." "Planned Parenthood is going to court to stop the Trump-Pence administration from trying to impose its ideology on people," Dawn Laguens, executive vice president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a statement. (Raymond, 5/2)

Dr. Gillian Dean, senior director of medical services at Planned Parenthood, said the administration is “trying to push people toward abstinence or pressure women into marriage — instead of helping them get quality health care.” Ruth Harlow, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed its own lawsuit Wednesday, added that the administration is “trying to sneak through major change in Title X in the fine print of a grant announcement.” (Sullivan, 5/2)

The Title X program, which has been around since the 1970s, historically enjoyed strong bipartisan support. But more recently, Title X funding has become a sharply partisan issue. Title X helps low-income families procure contraceptives and does not provide abortions. However, contraception and abortion have been intertwined in the debate over women’s health. (Raman, 5/2)

About 85 groups, including the parent organization of Wisconsin Right to Life, sent a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services this week encouraging it to “disentangle” the Title X program from organizations such as Planned Parenthood that perform abortions. (Boulton, 5/2)