Latest news with #PlannedParenthoodFederationofAmerica
TimesLIVE
2 days ago
- Health
- TimesLIVE
US Supreme Court backs South Carolina effort to defund Planned Parenthood
'Today, the Supreme Court again sided with politicians who believe they know better than you, who want to block you from seeing your trusted healthcare provider and making your own healthcare decisions,' said Planned Parenthood Federation of America president Alexis McGill Johnson. Lawmakers are trying to defund Planned Parenthood 'as part of their long-term goal to shut down Planned Parenthood and ban abortion nationwide' she said. South Carolina attorney general Alan Wilson, a Republican, welcomed the ruling. 'This is about who runs South Carolina, our elected leaders or out of state activists and unelected judges. We're glad the court got it right,' Wilson said. Since the Supreme Court in 2022 overturned its landmark Roe vs Wade ruling that had legalised abortion nationwide, a number of Republican-led states have implemented near-total bans or, like South Carolina, prohibitions after six weeks of pregnancy. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic operates clinics in the South Carolina cities of Charleston and Columbia, where it serves hundreds of Medicaid patients each year, providing physical examinations, screenings for cancer and diabetes, pregnancy testing, contraception and other services. Planned Parenthood affiliate and Medicaid patient Julie Edwards sued in 2018 after Republican governor Henry McMaster ordered South Carolina officials to end the organisation's participation in the state Medicaid programme by deeming any abortion provider unqualified to provide family planning services. The plaintiffs sued South Carolina under an 1871 US law that helps people challenge illegal acts by state officials. They said the Medicaid law protects what they called a 'deeply personal right' to choose one's doctor. The South Carolina department of health and human services, represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom conservative legal group and backed by President Donald Trump's administration, said the disputed Medicaid provision in the case does not meet the 'high bar for recognising private rights'. In the ruling, Gorsuch agreed with South Carolina, saying the law did not provide 'clear and unambiguous notice of an individually enforceable right'. He noted 'private enforcement does not always benefit the public, not least because it requires states to divert money and attention away from social services and towards litigation'. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote in a dissent joined by the court's two other liberal justices that the ruling 'is likely to result in tangible harm to real people. At a minimum, it will deprive Medicaid recipients in South Carolina of their only meaningful way of enforcing a right that Congress has expressly granted to them'. The ruling will strip Medicaid recipients around the country of the ability to decide who treats them at their most vulnerable, Jackson wrote, calling that 'a deeply personal freedom'. A federal judge ruled in Planned Parenthood's favour, finding Medicaid recipients may sue under the 1871 law and that the state's move to defund the organisation violated the right of Edwards to freely choose a qualified medical provider. In 2024, the Richmond, Virginia-based 4th US circuit court of appeals also sided with the plaintiffs. The Supreme Court heard arguments in the case on April 2.
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
At least 20 Planned Parenthood clinics shutter amid political turbulence
At least 20 Planned Parenthood clinics across seven states have shuttered since the start of 2025 or have announced plans to close soon – closures that come amid immense financial and political turbulence for the reproductive health giant as the United States continues to grapple with the fallout from the end of Roe v Wade. The Planned Parenthood network, which operates nearly 600 clinics through a web of independent regional affiliates and is overseen by the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, is facing a number of threats from the Trump administration. A Guardian analysis has found that Planned Parenthood closures have occurred or are in the works across six affiliates that maintain clinics in Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Utah and Vermont. In late March, the Trump administration suddenly froze tens of millions of dollars in funding for nine Planned Parenthood affiliates, including at least two that have since closed clinics or are set to do so soon. The funding, which flowed from the federal family planning program Title X, was used to provide services such as contraception, cancer screenings and STI tests. 'The ways in which this administration is dismantling access to public health and public health information are really troubling and, frankly, force us to make these difficult decisions very quickly,' said Shireen Ghorbani, interim president of Planned Parenthood Association of Utah, which saw $2.8m of its Title X funding – 20% of the affiliate's budget – frozen under the Trump administration. It has since closed two clinics as well as laid off a number of staffers who worked on initiatives like sex education. Last year, Ghorbani said, 26,000 Utahns received Title X-funded care at Planned Parenthood. Ghorbani does not believe that Utah's Republican-controlled state legislature will step in to create a substitute program. 'I will be shocked if a single cent is spent to make sure that people are able to control their health and their sexual and reproductive lives,' she said. Planned Parenthood's financial woes have raised eyebrows for some advocates of abortion rights and reproductive health. The organization has weathered several crises, including allegations of mismanagement, in the years since Roe collapsed – but as the face of US abortion access it continued to rake in donations. (Most abortions in the US are in fact performed by small 'independent' clinics, which are grappling with their own financial turmoil.) As of June 2023, the Planned Parenthood network had about $3bn in assets, according to its 2024 report. In April, Planned Parenthood of Michigan's announced that it would cut its staffing by 10% and close four clinics. Viktoria Koskenoja, an emergency medicine doctor who worked at one of the clinics that has closed, said that the closures came as 'a real shock'. 'It's sort of a frantic scramble right now to figure out where these patients are going to be able to go,' said Koskenoja, who lives in Michigan's rural Upper Peninsula. 'People are just going to get worse care for the time being, until we can figure something out.' She added: 'I think that if they had asked for money from the community to keep it open, people would have donated.' In a press release, Planned Parenthood of Michigan attributed the closures and layoffs to 'historic threats and cuts to federal funding'. The cuts to Title X, it said, 'deal a devastating financial blow to healthcare providers like PPMI'. But Planned Parenthood of Michigan was not among the Planned Parenthood affiliates that saw their Title X funding frozen. In Michigan, the federal government distributes Title X funding to the state's department of health and human services, which in turn doles money out to clinics, including those run by Planned Parenthood of Michigan. The Michigan department of health and human services has not seen a disruption in Title X funding. Planned Parenthood of Michigan did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the clinic closures and the role of Title X in those closures. The squeeze the organization is navigating may be about to tighten. Republicans at the national level are ramping up their campaign to 'defund' Planned Parenthood by kicking it out of Medicaid, the government insurance program for low-income people. Of the 2.4 million people treated at Planned Parenthood nationwide each year, nearly half rely on Medicaid. Related: Supreme court weighs South Carolina effort to defund Planned Parenthood Additionally, the supreme court is weighing a case involving an attempt by South Carolina to remove Planned Parenthood from its Medicaid program over the organization's status as an abortion provider. If the high court greenlights South Carolina's move, it could pave the way for other red states to refuse to reimburse Planned Parenthood for Medicaid costs. In Congress, Republicans' 'one big beautiful' tax bill, which has passed the House of Representatives and is now being considered in the Senate, also includes a provision that would effectively bar organizations that offer abortions from receiving Medicaid reimbursements for other reproductive health services. The provision is so narrowly tailored – it only applies to organizations that received more than $1m in Medicaid reimbursements – that it would only affect Planned Parenthood. 'Plain and simple, this reconciliation bill is about attacking Planned Parenthood,' Alexis McGill Johnson, CEO and president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a statement. If the tax bill passes as is, Planned Parenthood of Greater New York would lose about $20m and be forced to close clinics, according to Wendy Stark, the affiliate's CEO and president. 'Here we are, a few years post-Dobbs, and you're seeing health providers in [abortion] access states really struggle financially,' Stark said, referring to Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health, the supreme court decision that overturned Roe. 'That's not an accident, right? What's going on currently with the administration has been layered on top of existing threats and challenges.' Planned Parenthood of Greater New York is currently looking to sell its only Manhattan clinic. Medicaid and private insurance reimbursement rates, Stark said, were already too low, especially as the costs of medical supplies, insurance and rent have all risen in the years since the Covid pandemic. Last year, it cost the affiliate about $67m to provide healthcare services, but it only received about $36m in insurance reimbursements, she added. It shuttered four clinics in 2024.
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Pedro Pascal, Olivia Rodrigo, Harry Styles, and 250 Others Sign Planned Parenthood Ad
More than 250 celebrity leaders from across multiple industries — including Olivia Rodrigo, Harry Styles, Pedro Pascal, and Addison Rae — have signed a full-page Planned Parenthood ad calling for support of the organization's lifesaving healthcare initiatives in response to threats under President Donald Trump. Rolling Stone exclusively reveals the list of signees behind the 'I'm for Planned Parenthood' ad, which runs Wednesday in The New York Times. Following the 'I'm for Planned Parenthood' sentence structure, the ad reads: 'Because I'm for freedom… because I'm for healthcare… because I'm for you and me — not the government — deciding what care we need and where we can get it.' Megan Thee Stallion, Billie Eilish, Meghan Trainor, Phoebe Bridgers, Clairo, Gracie Abrams, Sara Bareilles, Sheryl Crow, and Cyndi Lauper are among the musicians signing the ad. Scarlett Johansson, Laverne Cox, Cara Delevingne, Zoey Deutch, Melissa McCarthy, Natasha Lyonne, Christina Ricci, Alfre Woodard, Alexandra Shipp, and Julianne Nicholson led the list of actors standing behind the letter. 'Trans people need health care providers they can trust, just like everyone else. Planned Parenthood health centers are a lifeline for so many across this country who rely on them for inclusive care,' Laverne Cox said in a statement. 'I'm for Planned Parenthood because they provide a space for queer people to feel safe, supported, and affirmed in who they truly are.' Karlie Kloss, Shonda Rhimes, Gloria Steinem, Trixie Mattel, Roxane Gay, Jenna Lyons, Drew Afualo, Ilana Glazer, Nikki Glaser, Mara Brock Akil, Laurie Simmons, and Aja Naomi King are also included as signees. (See the full list of signees here.) 'Every day, Planned Parenthood health center staff open the doors of health centers to ensure patients — no matter who they are — can get access to the essential health care they need. Planned Parenthood health centers play an irreplaceable role in our health system,' said Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, in a press statement. 'I applaud these cultural changemakers and everyone across the country who have said, loud and clear: I'm for Planned Parenthood.' The advertisement includes how one in four people in the U.S. have visited Planned Parenthood centers for cancer screenings, STI testing, abortion, gender-affirming care, and other needs. 'I'm incredibly grateful to see so many bold, influential voices declare their support for Planned Parenthood. Having spoken to many of them, I know this is personal,' Caren Spruch, national director for Arts and Entertainment Strategy, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, added. 'One in four people in this country have been to Planned Parenthood for essential health care — including many of these changemakers, their friends, families, and their fans, who have publicly shared their Planned Parenthood stories.' The advertisement comes as President Trump has targeted reproductive rights, including via an executive order that aimed to prohibit federal funding for elective abortions when he took office, and restricting Title X funds from going to Planned Parenthood affiliates during his first time as president. More from Rolling Stone 'The Last of Us' Episode 6: The Way We Were 'The Last of Us': Joel's Return and Other Secrets Behind the Making of Episode 6 The Pop Queens Are the New Rock Gods Best of Rolling Stone The Useful Idiots New Guide to the Most Stoned Moments of the 2020 Presidential Campaign Anatomy of a Fake News Scandal The Radical Crusade of Mike Pence
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Opinion - Congress must defund Planned Parenthood
I am a mother of three, including my son Cole, who was born with Down syndrome. I am also a former congresswoman who served Eastern Washington for 20 years. In these capacities, I have lived the profound joy and responsibility of nurturing life. When Cole was born, doctors told me his condition might limit him, but his boundless spirit has taught me that every life is a gift brimming with potential. This conviction, rooted in faith and family, drove my work in Congress. It also fuels my call today for Congress to defund Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion provider and the second-largest distributor of transition-inducing cross-sex hormones to children. Taxpayer dollars should not bankroll an organization that ends lives and pushes harmful, irreversible treatments on vulnerable children who are too young to consent. This is even more true at a time when our nation is grappling with a $36 trillion debt. Planned Parenthood, shaped by its founder Margaret Sanger's eugenics-driven vision, has long masked its true aims. Sanger, who in 1923 called the poor, disabled, and people of color 'human weeds,' sought to eliminate those she deemed inferior. Today, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Planned Parenthood Global hide behind the pretext of caring for poor women, but their actions tell a different story. They falsely claim that unless their organization receives Medicaid dollars, women will lose medical care. They also perpetuate the myth that abortion comprises only 3 percent of their services. In truth, abortion dominates their business model. According to their 2021-2022 annual report, Planned Parenthood for America performed 374,155 abortions — over 1,000 daily —making it the nation's leading abortion provider. Since 1973, Planned Parenthood has ended more than 8 million lives in this manner. This is not healthcare — it is the systematic termination of human potential on an unimaginable scale. The harm extends beyond abortion itself. A 2023 study in BMC Psychiatry found that women post-abortion face a 34 percent higher risk of depression and anxiety, with many enduring long-term distress. A 2023 study in Issues in Law & Medicine documented physical complications like infertility and chronic pain. Planned Parenthood dismisses these harms, leaving women to face the consequences alone. As a mother, I have seen the stark difference between such abandonment and genuine support. My experience with Cole, navigating a world that sometimes undervalues those with disabilities, has shown me the power of choosing life and the need for care that uplifts, not destroys. Equally alarming is Planned Parenthood's role as the second-largest provider of cross-sex hormones for so-called 'gender-affirming care,' according to a 2023 Senate report by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.). With 41 of 49 affiliates offering puberty blockers, estrogen, and testosterone, their 2021-2022 report noted a 1,400 percent spike in 'Other Procedures' — including gender transition services — from 17,791 to 256,550 in a year. These treatments, given to children as young as 12, lack long-term safety data, according to a 2022 Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism study, and can cause irreversible damage such as infertility, stunted growth, depression, blood clots, and cancer. Across Europe, countries such as the United Kingdom, Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Denmark have sharply restricted these treatments for minors, with the U.K. indefinitely limiting puberty blockers to clinical trials in 2024 due to insufficient evidence of safety, and others allowing hormones only in exceptional cases or research settings. As a mother, I am heartbroken that Planned Parenthood pushes such experimental treatments on vulnerable children, often bypassing parental consent, just as so many nations are pulling back and moving in a better direction. Fiscally, subsidies to Planned Parenthood are indefensible. In 2021-2022, they received $670.4 million in taxpayer funds, siphoned from such programs as Title X, despite the Hyde Amendment's restrictions on funding abortions. These dollars, as I argued in Congress, free up resources for Planned Parenthood to run its abortion and hormone programs. Over the last five years, Planned Parenthood's national office funneled $899 million to affiliates for legal battles and political campaigns, including $40 million in 2024 to back pro-abortion Democrats, according to a 2025 New York Times report. As former chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, I fought to ensure that taxpayer funds were spent responsibly, prioritizing families over ideology. Planned Parenthood's $2 billion in annual revenue is proof that it can survive without taxpayer support. Forcing taxpayers to fund an organization that so many find morally bankrupt undermines the values of millions. Defunding Planned Parenthood would merely redirect resources to federally qualified health centers, which serve more than 30 million patients annually with comprehensive care — mammograms, prenatal support and mental health services, among other things — without abortion or experimental treatments, according to the Health Resources and Services Administration. These centers embody the kind of care I championed in Congress, as when I voted for the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act and spoke out against bills designed to funnel money to Planned Parenthood. As Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy noted in their November 20, 2024, Wall Street Journal op-ed, the Department of Government Efficiency aims to cut more than $500 billion in unauthorized spending, citing Planned Parenthood's funding as a prime target. Recent Supreme Court rulings such as West Virginia v. EPA (2022) and Loper Bright v. Raimondo (2024), affirm that agencies cannot impose policies without clear congressional approval — a principle that applies to PPFA's bloated funding. Before retiring in December 2024, I stood on the House floor, as I did in 2020 at a pro-life hearing, saying, 'Abortion doesn't bring hope or healing. There is a despair that has come over our country.' My journey with Cole has shown me the beauty of embracing life's challenges instead of erasing them. Defunding Planned Parenthood is about reclaiming moral clarity and fiscal responsibility, investing in care that respects the dignity of every human person — born and unborn. Congress must act now to honor the constitutional promise of life and protect our children from harm. As a mother and former congresswoman, I urge my former colleagues to defund Planned Parenthood and choose hope. Cathy McMorris Rodgers represented Washington's Fifth Congressional District in Congress from 2005 to 2025. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
16-05-2025
- Health
- The Hill
Congress must defund Planned Parenthood
I am a mother of three, including my son Cole, who was born with Down syndrome. I am also a former congresswoman who served Eastern Washington for 20 years. In these capacities, I have lived the profound joy and responsibility of nurturing life. When Cole was born, doctors told me his condition might limit him, but his boundless spirit has taught me that every life is a gift brimming with potential. This conviction, rooted in faith and family, drove my work in Congress. It also fuels my call today for Congress to defund Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion provider and the second-largest distributor of transition-inducing cross-sex hormones to children. Taxpayer dollars should not bankroll an organization that ends lives and pushes harmful, irreversible treatments on vulnerable children who are too young to consent. This is even more true at a time when our nation is grappling with a $36 trillion debt. Planned Parenthood, shaped by its founder Margaret Sanger's eugenics-driven vision, has long masked its true aims. Sanger, who in 1923 called the poor, disabled, and people of color 'human weeds,' sought to eliminate those she deemed inferior. Today, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Planned Parenthood Global hide behind the pretext of caring for poor women, but their actions tell a different story. They falsely claim that unless their organization receives Medicaid dollars, women will lose medical care. They also perpetuate the myth that abortion comprises only 3 percent of their services. In truth, abortion dominates their business model. According to their 2021-2022 annual report, Planned Parenthood for America performed 374,155 abortions — over 1,000 daily —making it the nation's leading abortion provider. Since 1973, Planned Parenthood has ended more than 8 million lives in this manner. This is not healthcare — it is the systematic termination of human potential on an unimaginable scale. The harm extends beyond abortion itself. A 2023 study in BMC Psychiatry found that women post-abortion face a 34 percent higher risk of depression and anxiety, with many enduring long-term distress. A 2023 study in Issues in Law & Medicine documented physical complications like infertility and chronic pain. Planned Parenthood dismisses these harms, leaving women to face the consequences alone. As a mother, I have seen the stark difference between such abandonment and genuine support. My experience with Cole, navigating a world that sometimes undervalues those with disabilities, has shown me the power of choosing life and the need for care that uplifts, not destroys. Equally alarming is Planned Parenthood's role as the second-largest provider of cross-sex hormones for so-called 'gender-affirming care,' according to a 2023 Senate report by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.). With 41 of 49 affiliates offering puberty blockers, estrogen, and testosterone, their 2021-2022 report noted a 1,400 percent spike in 'Other Procedures' — including gender transition services — from 17,791 to 256,550 in a year. These treatments, given to children as young as 12, lack long-term safety data, according to a 2022 Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism study, and can cause irreversible damage such as infertility, stunted growth, depression, blood clots, and cancer. Across Europe, countries such as the United Kingdom, Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Denmark have sharply restricted these treatments for minors, with the U.K. indefinitely limiting puberty blockers to clinical trials in 2024 due to insufficient evidence of safety, and others allowing hormones only in exceptional cases or research settings. As a mother, I am heartbroken that Planned Parenthood pushes such experimental treatments on vulnerable children, often bypassing parental consent, just as so many nations are pulling back and moving in a better direction. Fiscally, subsidies to Planned Parenthood are indefensible. In 2021-2022, they received $670.4 million in taxpayer funds, siphoned from such programs as Title X, despite the Hyde Amendment's restrictions on funding abortions. These dollars, as I argued in Congress, free up resources for Planned Parenthood to run its abortion and hormone programs. Over the last five years, Planned Parenthood's national office funneled $899 million to affiliates for legal battles and political campaigns, including $40 million in 2024 to back pro-abortion Democrats, according to a 2025 New York Times report. As former chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, I fought to ensure that taxpayer funds were spent responsibly, prioritizing families over ideology. Planned Parenthood's $2 billion in annual revenue is proof that it can survive without taxpayer support. Forcing taxpayers to fund an organization that so many find morally bankrupt undermines the values of millions. Defunding Planned Parenthood would merely redirect resources to federally qualified health centers, which serve more than 30 million patients annually with comprehensive care — mammograms, prenatal support and mental health services, among other things — without abortion or experimental treatments, according to the Health Resources and Services Administration. These centers embody the kind of care I championed in Congress, as when I voted for the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act and spoke out against bills designed to funnel money to Planned Parenthood. As Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy noted in their November 20, 2024, Wall Street Journal op-ed, the Department of Government Efficiency aims to cut more than $500 billion in unauthorized spending, citing Planned Parenthood's funding as a prime target. Recent Supreme Court rulings such as West Virginia v. EPA (2022) and Loper Bright v. Raimondo (2024), affirm that agencies cannot impose policies without clear congressional approval — a principle that applies to PPFA's bloated funding. Before retiring in December 2024, I stood on the House floor, as I did in 2020 at a pro-life hearing, saying, 'Abortion doesn't bring hope or healing. There is a despair that has come over our country.' My journey with Cole has shown me the beauty of embracing life's challenges instead of erasing them. Defunding Planned Parenthood is about reclaiming moral clarity and fiscal responsibility, investing in care that respects the dignity of every human person — born and unborn. Congress must act now to honor the constitutional promise of life and protect our children from harm. As a mother and former congresswoman, I urge my former colleagues to defund Planned Parenthood and choose hope. Cathy McMorris Rodgers represented Washington's Fifth Congressional District in Congress from 2005 to 2025.
