The Department of Health and Human Services on Friday released new guidance for a key government program promoting family planning, a development that appears to shift support away from a major abortion provider criticized by Republicans. 

The changes impact the Title X family planning program, which Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) and others have said benefits Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the industry. The day after Hawley urged HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to make changes to the federal program, the health agency released guidance on grants that emphasized targeting chronic disease conditions believed to be impacting fertility rates, avoiding a focus on contraception. The agency also appeared to amend grant language to read “None of the funds appropriated under this title shall be used in programs where abortion is a method of family planning.”