The Dire Long-Term Damage of “Defunding” Planned Parenthood |
For decades, Republicans have worked to “defund” Planned Parenthood, whose clinics provide a range of reproductive health services, including—most offensively to its detractors—abortion care. In July, the GOP majority in Congress largely accomplished that goal, at least temporarily, thanks to a provision tucked into President Donald Trump’s massive legislation extending tax breaks primarily for upper-income Americans and slashing government spending, that functionally barred federal funding for large abortion providers for one year.
The measure does not explicitly name Planned Parenthood, but it bars Medicaid funding for health care providers that offer abortions, and who received more than $800,000 in federal reimbursements in 2023 for other services such as birth control, cancer screenings, and STI treatments. Given Planned Parenthood’s size and nationwide reach, the organization’s CEO Alexis McGill Johnson warned that this would result in a loss of $700 million in federal funding and leave 200 clinics at risk of closure—primarily in states where abortion is legal.
An October report by Planned Parenthood found that since the law was signed on July 4, 20 health centers nationwide had been forced to close. Prior to September, when this provision went into effect, nearly half of all visits to Planned Parenthood clinics nationwide were from Medicaid recipients who relied on the program to cover the cost. For low-income patients who relied on Planned Parenthood for their medical needs, the threats to these clinics could have an immediate impact.
“When the clinic in their community closes, they suddenly have to either drive farther to find a different place to go get........