The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology said it will no longer be accepting federal funding.
ACOG said this decision is due to federal policy changes that don’t align with the organization’s work. The organization said it may reconsider partnering at a federal level again in the future, should their “program goals align” with the government.
The ACOG Foundation—the group’s 501(c)(3) affiliate—has received $950,000 from HHS this year to oversee reviews and updates of preventive services guidelines for women, according to an HHS grant-tracking website. In 2023, the organization received over $1 million in federal funding.
In a statement to ACOG members, the organization said:
After careful deliberation, ACOG has made an organization-wide decision to stop accepting federal funding for all ACOG programs and activities for current contracts. Recent changes in federal funding laws and regulations significantly impact ACOG’s program goals, policy positions, and ability to provide timely and evidence-based guidance and recommendations for care.
We remain fully committed to this critical work and will allocate our own resources to continue it in a way that is centered on patient needs and grounded in evidence. As we develop the details of this path forward, we will share more information with our valued members and partners.
ACOG is proud of the work we’ve done in partnership with the federal government over the years and intends to continue to improve public health outcomes through our work going forward. We will continue to engage with the federal government through member advocacy, by providing comments to rulemaking, and ensuring that the voice of ob-gyns is heard by decisionmakers. And we will evaluate opportunities to partner with the government in the future where our program goals align.
We remain committed to reducing preventable maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity within the United States, to ensuring the quality and safety of patient care that will improve population health outcomes, to increasing access to preventive care, and more. We look forward to building on our successful work to date by shaping future programs that advance health for all.
ACOG is one of several medical associations that has vocally pushed back against the Trump administration health policies.
Recently, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. removed the recommendation that pregnant individuals receive COVID-19 vaccinations, while an FDA advisory panel has raised new concerns about the safety of using antidepressants during pregnancy.
ACOG has called this panel “alarmingly unbalanced” and said in a statement that there is robust evidence showing that antidepressants are safe during pregnancy.
In 2017, when the the first Trump administration proposed limiting contraceptives, ACOG accused the administration of “turning back the clock on women’s health.”
“All Americans deserve the ability to make personal health care decisions without intrusion from their employers or the government,” the organization wrote in a statement at the time.
The United States continues to report some of the highest maternal mortality rates among developed nations, yet healthcare during pregnancy has become a political flashpoint under the current administration’s wave of cuts and policy rollbacks.
The American Academy of Pediatrics has also publicly opposed recent HHS choices, boycotting a meeting last month of Kennedy’s new vaccine advisory panel.
The reason was Kennedy’s purge of the 17 members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which AAP said cost the panel its “credibility.”
HHS didn’t respond to The Cancer Letter’s request for comment on ACOG divestment.
“This is great news for the American taxpayer. ACOG taking itself off the federal payroll might be the most responsible budgeting decision they’ve made,” HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said to MedPage Today in an email.
