House conservatives have been fighting for months for bigger spending cuts in the reconciliation bill. But there’s one thing they don’t want to touch, even if it likely increases the budget deficit: defunding Planned Parenthood.
“We should defund Planned Parenthood,” said Rep. Chip Roy, who has been unwavering in his opposition to the bill. “We should decrease the deficit in other ways.”
The Congressional Budget Office estimated recently that banning Planned Parenthood from receiving any sort of federal funds is the only health-related measure in the reconciliation bill that would increase the budget deficit. Over the next 10 years, defunding Planned Parenthood would cost $300 million.
House Speaker Mike Johnson is trying to meet a self-imposed Memorial Day deadline to send the bill to the Senate, but with hardliners like Roy and other House Freedom Caucus members fighting for deeper cuts to Medicaid, the path to passage seems rocky.
Conservatives believe defunding Planned Parenthood — a longstanding goal for the anti-abortion movement — “absolutely” must stay on the bill, said Rep. Ralph Norman, another member who has been wary of reconciliation.
“I don’t believe” the CBO projections, Norman said. He then claimed, without providing evidence, that the CBO “give[s] money to Planned Parenthood.”
“I don’t know how [defunding] costs money,” Norman said.
Conservatives’ determination that defunding Planned Parenthood remain in the bill is reminiscent of 2015, when the House Freedom Caucus declared they would not support any spending bills that did not contain language to defund Planned Parenthood — and even threatened to shut down the government over it.
The CBO did not explain in its projections why the deficit would increase. However, the agency said in 2015, when the House did pass a bill to stop funding, that slashing money from the organization would increase direct spending by about $130 million. (The bill was blocked in the Senate).
The agency found that since patients would not be able to access birth control methods provided by Planned Parenthood, “additional births that would result from enacting such a bill would add to federal spending for Medicaid.”
Rep. Andy Harris, chair of the House Freedom Caucus, had acknowledged to NOTUS in February that defunding Planned Parenthood in reconciliation would increase spending. However, after his comments were published, anti-abortion advocates met with him privately to ensure he would fall in line.
Ultimately, he changed his position.
Harris believes defunding Planned Parenthood “should be included” in reconciliation, Anna Adamian, Harris’ communications director, told NOTUS in late March. “I can confirm he believes that taxpayer dollars shouldn’t pay for institutions whose primary purpose is to do abortions.” Planned Parenthood says abortions only make up a small percentage of their overall services. (Harris’ office did not respond to NOTUS’ requests for comment on whether he thought the same after the CBO’s estimates.)
The provision to defund Planned Parenthood faces opposition from moderates in the Senate and in the House from Republicans in vulnerable districts, but it’s unclear if that opposition would tank the bill.
Multiple members have told Johnson they do not support going after the organization in this reconciliation bill, as NOTUS previously reported. They argue that under the Hyde Amendment, it is already illegal for federal funds to directly cover abortions, so going after Planned Parenthood is largely unnecessary.
But conservatives won’t budge.
“A life is worth a lot more than any amount we could put on it,” Rep. Tim Burchett told NOTUS.
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Oriana González is a reporter at NOTUS.