Congress Poised to Decimate Reproductive Health Care Across the United States
7.1.25 (PRESS STATEMENT) — Today, the United States Senate voted to advance the so-called “big beautiful bill”—a federal government budget bill that, among so many other harms, would wreak havoc on reproductive healthcare throughout the country. The bill will now go back to the House of Representatives, where they will try to pass it and deliver it to President Trump’s desk before July 4th. If passed as written, this bill would shut down hundreds of Planned Parenthood clinics by barring them from accepting Medicaid patients for non-abortion services such as STI testing, cervical cancer screenings, and contraception. In addition to Planned Parenthood, the bill will impact trusted healthcare providers like Maine Family Planning, which operates 18 clinics across the state of Maine, including in very rural areas where there are no other healthcare providers.
Statement from Nancy Northup, President and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights:
“If this bill passes, it will be the most devastating blow to women’s health and bodily autonomy since the overturning of Roe. The bill is poised to shutter hundreds of reproductive health care centers across the country. Together with last week’s disastrous Supreme Court ruling in Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, 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. Millions of people rely on these clinics for low-cost STI testing, cervical cancer screenings, contraception, and other essential health care.
“This is not a drill — extremists have been scheming for decades to shut down Planned Parenthood, and now they may actually succeed in shutting down scores of their clinics across the country. This bill will be felt most in states where abortion is legal, as most of the clinics at risk of closing are in those states. If this bill passes, many people will have nowhere else affordable to go for these services. And at clinics like Maine Family Planning, a Center client where roughly half of the patients rely on Medicaid, many patients may be compelled to forgo care. 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.
“The public needs to wake up to what is going on here: Even if you live in a state where abortion is legal, it could soon be much harder to access abortion. The bill is so close to passing, but there’s still time to stop it. If enough Americans contact their Congressional representatives and urge them to remove this extreme anti-rights provision, we may still have a chance to avoid disaster.”
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