Anti-abortion leaders and their allies in Congress believe 2025 is the year they will finally succeed in their goal to fully strip federal funding from Planned Parenthood — one way or another.
Even without legislation moving through Congress, opponents of the organization feel they are well on their way to achieving what they’ve been trying to do for decades now that the Trump administration is able to use federal agencies to cut off funding. But it helps that congressional anti-abortion allies are pushing to defund Planned Parenthood through the massive budget bill leaders are hoping to pass this year.
“There’s a unique lining up of the planets. When you think about, you know, trifecta, the reconciliation bill,which doesn’t come along every day, the determination of the Republican leadership,” Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life, told NOTUS. “Everyone we talked to is like, there was not even any hesitation, ‘Yes, we want to get this done, we’re going to get this done.’”
President Donald Trump is already withholding millions of dollars in Title X family planning grants from Planned Parenthood affiliates (a move that the president also took during his first administration), and the Supreme Court is reviewing a case that could eventually allow states to exclude the organization from their Medicaid programs because it offers abortion services, even though Medicaid funds are already barred from being used for abortions.
“There’s a number of factors, all of these things combining to say that this may, in fact, be the best opportunity we’ve had to do what is a long-standing goal of the movement,” Pavone continued.
The last time Republicans attempted to bar federal money from Planned Parenthood via a reconciliation bill was in 2017, during the first Trump administration. The bill — Republicans’ failed effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act — specifically said that no federal funds “may be made available to a State for payments” to any entity that provides abortion, naming Planned Parenthood as an example.
The Senate parliamentarian concluded at the time that this specific clause violated the Byrd rule, which dictates how reconciliation bills can affect the budget. That determination has not deterred House Republicans from at least bringing up the issue in their private discussions this time around.
At a late-night meeting this week, Republican members on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce — which is responsible for finding $880 billion in cuts — were asked if they should address the issue of providing federal funds to organizations that offer abortions, according to two sources familiar with the discussion. However, the topic was brought up at the end of the hours-long meeting, and no decision was reached, one of the sources said.
Anti-abortion leaders have been working overtime to ensure lawmakers add a measure to defund Planned Parenthood to a final reconciliation bill: Hundreds of advocates descended on Capitol Hill in March to lobby every single GOP office for it, and leaders have had private calls with members to ensure the issue stays at the front of mind.
“We don’t want people to feel like the only way to lobby their representatives is to come to Washington,” Pavone said. He told NOTUS that leaders in the movement have been directing activists to go to lawmakers’ district and local offices to demand that they defund Planned Parenthood.
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said in a press conference earlier this year that “this movement is completely unified in its first priority, and that is to defund big abortion in this reconciliation bill.”
“As Speaker Johnson said, it will be the realization of a lifelong dream. [Senate Majority Leader John] Thune and leadership are all saying the same. It’s something that should be done and its time has come,” Dannenfelser said, adding that she hopes lawmakers will accomplish this by Memorial Day — a deadline that Thune has said is likely only possible for the House, not the Senate.
Abortion is a touchy subject for many moderate Republicans, especially those hailing from bluer states. Those members’ “yes” votes will be crucial for Johnson to pass the budget bill, and it’s possible including a provision to defund Planned Parenthood would be politically risky.
Planned Parenthood says they aren’t backing down.
“Anti-abortion Republicans and their allies are delusional if they think they can get away with making cuts to Medicaid or ‘defunding’ Planned Parenthood,” said Angela Vaszquez-Girous, vice president of communications for Planned Parenthood Action Fund, said in a statement. “Planned Parenthood Action Fund is ready to fight back all attempts by anti-abortion politicians to take away access to care.”
The most recent figure on Planned Parenthood’s finances provided by the government is from 2015, when the Congressional Research Service found that 43% of Planned Parenthood’s yearly revenue came from federal funds through Medicaid reimbursements and Title X grants. (The organization reported last year that 34% of its revenue comes from “Government Health Services Reimbursements & Grants”).
Conservatives’ fight to defund Planned Parenthood has been ongoing since 2007, when it was led by then-Rep. Mike Pence. While Republicans in Congress have said that under the current GOP trifecta the goal is in sight, even some of the anti-abortion movement’s staunchest allies are cautious.
“I’m optimistic, but never put the cart before the horse,” said Rep. Chris Smith, co-chair of the House Pro-Life Caucus. He told NOTUS that the Supreme Court case was “a great opportunity,” but “it remains to be seen [if] it will be successful.”
The justices heard oral arguments in mid-March in Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, a case in which they were looking to answer whether Medicaid patients have the right to sue a state to obtain medical services from Planned Parenthood. However, the justices seem divided on the issue, with some conservatives expressing concern about patients potentially losing the ability to sue.
“One of the benefits provided by the act is that you may choose your own doctor,” said Chief Justice John Roberts. “If a person thinks that’s not being provided, what remedies do they have?”
Ultimately, if the Supreme Court says that Medicaid patients have the right to sue, the case will go down to the lower courts to determine if a state can bar Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid funds.
Other states have already removed Planned Parenthood from their Medicaid programs, a move that’s been upheld by some state courts.
“I think we could use pretty much the exact same blueprint that we’ve used at the state level to defund them at the federal level, and I know that myself and several others have, you know, made that suggestion to people being in the Trump administration that this could be a very similar tactic,” Abby Johnson, a prominent anti-abortion activist, told NOTUS.
In a webcast organized by the anti-abortion group Students for Life Action, Johnson elaborated on the move.
“We did it here in Texas. It was pretty simple. We just said that any entity that is affiliated with abortion providers or any entity that is currently performing abortions would not be eligible for title funding,” which includes Medicaid, Johnson said.
Planned Parenthood’s allies say they have been expecting this fight — and are already engaged in it.
Rep. Emily Randall, a freshman Democrat who previously worked as a philanthropy officer for Planned Parenthood, said the organization is used to attacks from conservatives.
“We’ve been bracing for impact,” Randall told NOTUS. “We just have to work harder.”
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Oriana González is a reporter at NOTUS.