Center for Reproductive Rights Position Statement on Congressional Attempt to Defund Planned Parenthood
House Leadership introduced a bill that would cut Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood and other health care providers
May 13, 2025 (POSITION STATEMENT) — Late Sunday, Republican Congressional leadership revealed their latest effort to impose their agenda nationwide in a slash-and-burn draft budget reconciliation bill. The bill proposes to eliminate all funding to Planned Parenthood and other reproductive health care providers for a period of ten years. The bill would also make devastating cuts to Medicaid that could close rural hospitals and further decimate access to maternal health care. Medicaid currently finances about 42% of all births in the United States.
Statement from Rachana Desai Martin, Chief U.S. Program Officer at the Center for Reproductive Rights:
“These baseless, politically motivated attacks against reproductive health care providers must stop. We are already facing a nationwide health care crisis in the wake of the overturning of Roe, worsened by the Trump administration shutting off millions of dollars for family planning and basic care in the Title X program. Now, proposals to slash Medicaid and defund providers like Planned Parenthood are threatening to further dismantle a safety net that millions of people, especially low-income people and families, rely upon. It is unacceptable that politicians would choose to deepen this attack on basic health care services like contraception, prenatal care, and cancer screenings for patients.
Medicaid is the largest payer of reproductive health care, including maternal health care, in the country. It is critical to ensuring that millions of low-income Americans can access essential sexual and reproductive health care through the provider of their choice. Defunding providers like Planned Parenthood would eliminate that choice and targets communities who are already facing barriers to care.
We stand with Planned Parenthood and all reproductive health care providers in the face of these attacks and press our elected officials to reject these dangerous measures that harm our families and our communities. We will use every means at our disposal to continue fighting back against this war on the health and well-being of everyday Americans.”
If enacted, the reconciliation bill will cut approximately $715 billion from Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates will result in 13.7 million people losing insurance coverage. In order to make up for the massive deficits caused by these cuts, states may have to withdraw coverage expansions, such as the 12-month postpartum Medicaid coverage option that was included in the American Rescue Plan. When combined with draconian work requirements and onerous eligibility standards, these cuts will also make it increasingly difficult for people on Medicaid to maintain their coverage or seek alternative coverage options through the ACA marketplace.
Blocking Planned Parenthood and other reproductive health care providers from receiving Medicaid funds would prevent millions of patients who have public health insurance from receiving essential health care at Planned Parenthood and other health centers. Planned Parenthood health centers serve over two million patients a year, many of whom are Medicaid recipients, with services like contraceptive e counseling, cancer screenings, and STI testing and treatment. They are vital to the ecosystem of reproductive care in this country, particularly for vulnerable communities.
###
