Planned Parenthood Faces Closure as Spending Bill Defunds Organization
Washington D.C. – A sweeping spending bill signed into law by President Trump includes a provision that will defund Planned Parenthood, a move the organization warns could lead to the closure of up to 200 clinics nationwide. The majority of these at-risk clinics are located in states where abortion remains legal.
The legislation, while not explicitly naming Planned Parenthood, bans Medicaid payments to large non-profit healthcare organizations that provide abortion services. This effectively cuts off a meaningful funding stream for the organization.
“This is going to be devastating for the patients that Planned Parenthood serves,” stated Alexis McGill Johnson, President of the planned Parenthood Federation of America. she highlighted that many of the clinics facing closure are in medically underserved areas, including rural communities with existing primary care shortages.
Michelle Velasquez,an attorney with Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin,described the defunding as a “backdoor abortion ban.” She emphasized that Planned Parenthood clinics offer a wide range of essential healthcare services beyond abortion, including birth control, STI testing and treatment, and preventative screenings for cervical cancer. The closure of these clinics would leave millions of women without access to these vital services.
The impact of the spending bill extends beyond Planned parenthood.Significant cuts to Medicaid are also expected to jeopardize access to women’s healthcare more broadly. Dana Singiser of the Contraceptive Access Initiative estimates that up to 2.7 million women of reproductive age could lose access to contraceptive care due to these Medicaid cuts, with an additional 1.4 to 2 million facing similar losses due to changes impacting the affordable Care Act.
“By taking a sledgehammer to Medicaid, we estimate that 2.7 million women of reproductive age will lose access to contraceptive care,” singiser commented, describing the potential consequences as “breathtaking.”
The White House has not yet responded to requests for comment on the matter.
