* Subscribers got a rundown yesterday. The New York Times last week…
When Senate Republicans voted on Tuesday to pass President Trump’s spending bill, abortion opponents came one step closer to stripping Planned Parenthood of federal funding — a move that could jeopardize abortion access for patients even in states where abortion is legal.
The bill imposes a one-year ban on state Medicaid payments to any health care nonprofit that offers abortions and received more than $800,000 in federal funding in 2023. The restriction jeopardizes Planned Parenthood’s ability to keep operating in some states. […]
“This bill threatens to close nearly 200 Planned Parenthood health centers and will create devastating gaps in our health care infrastructure,” Alexis McGill Johnson, the chief executive of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the national umbrella organization, said in a statement.
The bill most deeply affects Planned Parenthood clinics in blue states, including California, Oregon, Washington and Illinois, where abortion is still legal and where there are also large numbers of patients who are eligible for Medicaid reimbursements for other health care.
Planned Parenthood won a temporary injunction on Monday. Click here for Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s filing. Click here for the TRO.
* WTTW yesterday…
Nearly 30,000, or more than 40%, of Planned Parenthood of Illinois patients use Medicaid to access health care services at Planned Parenthood’s health centers, according to the organization. Without Medicaid, leaders at the organization said it would need $16 million annually to continue providing services at its current level.
“Losing significant funding, always, is a concern,” [Illinois Vice President of Patient Services Emily Glover] said. “Anytime that level of funding is in jeopardy, additional health center closures are not off the table. It is always a possibility. It is a last-resort option; it’s something we don’t wanna have to do.” […]
Planned Parenthood of Illinois pledged last week to keep providing reproductive care to Medicaid patients in the immediate future despite potential funding cuts.
“What is going through my mind right now is how do we continue letting patients know that we’re here to care for them?” Glover said. “How do we continue to care for our staff who, quite frankly, are asked to respond to ever-changing political cycles and pressures and a very confusing health care landscape at the moment, while caring for patients who potentially can’t get care anywhere else?”
The organization is creating contingency plans and working with elected officials and partner organizations on how it can keep providing care for Medicaid patients, according to Glover.
* Related…
* Seattle Times | WA will backfill $11M in federal cuts to Planned Parenthood, says Ferguson: Washington leaders plan to backfill the loss of about $11 million in federal funding for local Planned Parenthood services if cuts to the organization by the latest U.S. spending bill are approved by a federal judge. In a news conference on Wednesday at Planned Parenthood in Seattle’s Central District, Gov. Bob Ferguson said the funding, which would be diverted from the state’s Health Care Authority, would only be necessary if a lawsuit filed in federal court this week is not successful.
* Press Herald | Planned Parenthood in Maine seeking more state funding to offset budget cuts: The nonprofit is facing about $5.2 million in cuts from the new law and the Trump administration prohibiting Planned Parenthood from participating in the federal Title X program, which is a funding source for reproductive health care.
* Wisconsin | Planned Parenthood, family planning clinics in Wisconsin face cuts under new federal law: Speaking to reporters last week, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin’s Chief Strategy Officer Michelle Velasquez said that while the full extent of the impact on Wisconsin isn’t yet known, the cutbacks will be significant. She warned that the changes will make it harder to provide a range of services — not just abortion.
* [From January] CBS Chicago | Planned Parenthood to close 4 Illinois clinics, including one in Chicago: Planned Parenthood of Illinois said in a news release that it is facing financial shortfall due to the rising number of patients, growing health care costs, and an uncertain patient care landscape under the new Trump administration. The organization also cited the need to create a sustainable after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.
- City Zen - Thursday, Jul 10, 25 @ 10:56 am:
==Planned Parenthood won a temporary injunction==
Democarcy dies something something.
- Steve - Thursday, Jul 10, 25 @ 11:47 am:
-This bill threatens to close nearly 200 Planned Parenthood health centers-
PP may win on appeal : the new legal logic will be that PP has an implied right to federal government money and Congress doesn’t control spending or something.
- Norseman - Thursday, Jul 10, 25 @ 11:55 am:
PP will not win with in the MAGA SCOTUS. These justices will contort themselves into a pretzel to implement their anti-abortion religious beliefs.
- Thomas Paine - Thursday, Jul 10, 25 @ 12:14 pm:
=== to implement their anti-abortion religious beliefs. ===
If the federal government can withhold Medicaid from an organization because it provides abortions, then the federal government can withhold Medicaid funding from an organization because it refuses to provide abortions.
And so can the state of Illinois.
Be careful what powers you wish for government to have when the joystick is in your hands, because it will one day be in someone else’s hands.
- Unionman - Thursday, Jul 10, 25 @ 1:18 pm:
Sounds like PP has a new fundraising campaign to work on.
- Norseman - Thursday, Jul 10, 25 @ 1:54 pm:
=== because it refuses to provide abortions. ===
It doesn’t work that way. MAGA SCOTUS has the last say.
- Juice - Thursday, Jul 10, 25 @ 2:19 pm:
@Thomas Paine, the Hyde Amendment actually has language that prohibits states from discriminating against providers that do not provide abortions (at least with federal funds).
Doesn’t mean there might be other buckets of cash that could apply. But just an FYI.