Trump's ‘Big Beautiful Bill' Threatens Planned Parenthood Funds
The Senate version of President Donald Trump's 'One Big Beautiful Bill' narrowly passed on Tuesday with a provision included that would prohibit federal Medicaid funding for any health care services provided by Planned Parenthood for one year, after Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough allowed the cuts to remain in the legislation. The provision initially sought to 'defund' Planned Parenthood for 10 years, but the timing was reduced to one year prior to MacDonough's ruling. The sweeping tax and spending package now returns to the House.
The bill's Senate passage comes just days after the Supreme Court ruled that states can prohibit Medicaid funding for any health care services provided by Planned Parenthood, in a case stemming from a 2018 order by South Carolina Republican Gov. Henry McMaster that barred any clinic offering abortion services from the state's Medicaid program.
Read More: South Carolina Wants to End Medicaid for Planned Parenthood
The decisions are major victories for Republican lawmakers in their decades-long effort to strip Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion provider, of government funding. The Hyde Amendment already bars federal dollars from being used for abortion. Medicaid—the state-federal program that provides health insurance coverage for more than 70 million people from low-income households—doesn't cover abortions, with very limited exceptions. But Medicaid covers other, non-abortion health care services that Planned Parenthood clinics provide, and many of the patients who visit the organization's locations are Medicaid recipients.
Anti-abortion groups praised the Supreme Court's decision; Katie Daniel, director of legal affairs and policy counsel for the anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said in a statement that the decision 'saves countless unborn babies from a violent death.'
But Planned Parenthood, abortion-rights advocates, and health care providers condemned the court's ruling. Planned Parenthood has said that barring Medicaid coverage for the number of other health care services its clinics provide—such as birth control, STI testing and treatment, and cancer screenings—could lead to many patients not getting the health care they need.
'The Supreme Court once again sided with politicians who believe they know better than you, who want to block you from seeing your trusted health care provider and making your own health care decisions,' Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a statement. 'Patients need access to birth control, cancer screenings, STI testing and treatment, and more. And right now, lawmakers in Congress are trying to 'defund' Planned Parenthood as part of their long-term goal to shut down Planned Parenthood and ban abortion nationwide.'
The provision targeting Planned Parenthood in Trump's tax and spending package would cost taxpayers an additional $52 million over 10 years, according to an estimate from the Congressional Budget Office. Planned Parenthood has said that if it is 'defunded,' nearly 200 health centers in 24 states would be at risk of closing and more than 1.1 million patients could lose access to their health care.
Lawmakers and anti-abortion groups that have pushed to 'defund' Planned Parenthood have argued that patients can turn to federally qualified health centers instead of the women's health organization. But a recent report from the Guttmacher Institute, which researches and supports sexual and reproductive health and rights, concluded that federally qualified health centers wouldn't be able to readily replace Planned Parenthood's provider network.
Abortion-rights advocates sounded the alarm on Tuesday, after the tax and spending package cleared the Senate with the provision targeting Planned Parenthood.
'If this bill passes, it will be the most devastating blow to women's health and bodily autonomy since the overturning of Roe,' Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement. 'What we are seeing is a full-scale attack against the complete range of care that these clinics provide—abortion care, yes, but also so much more.'
'If this bill passes, many people will have nowhere else affordable to go for these services,' Northup continued. 'The U.S. health care system is already stretched thin—the majority in Congress should not be further limiting where people can get health care. Patients should have the freedom to pick their health care provider.'
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