{"id":32390,"date":"2026-07-09T16:41:26","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T20:41:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=32390"},"modified":"2026-07-09T16:41:26","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T20:41:26","slug":"pro-lifers-decry-planned-parenthood-refunding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2026\/07\/pro-lifers-decry-planned-parenthood-refunding","title":{"rendered":"Pro-Lifers Decry Planned Parenthood Refunding"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Charlotte Cooper \/ Flickr<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The One Big Beautiful Bill\u2019s provision blocking Medicaid access for Planned Parenthood for one year has expired after the Republican-led Congress failed to renew the provision. The provision had been celebrated as a win by pro-life organizations, with Planned Parenthood losing access to around $830 million. During the year the provision lasted, around 30 Planned Parenthood centers closed due to a lack of funding. Some of those centers are now preparing to reopen as access to Medicaid funding was restored on July 6.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a blow to pro-life advocates who originally pushed for the funding to be blocked for 10 years or even lifetime in the bill, but a ruling from the Senate parliamentarian only permitted a one-year measure. Pro-lifers are pushing for another ban to be included in the House\u2019s third reconciliation bill that House Speaker Johnson hopes to pass before the end of the year. However, many Republicans seem hesitant to push back against abortion so close to mid-term elections, where Republicans stand to lose their very slim majority in one or both chambers of Congress. Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri called the Republicans\u2019 failure to include a defunding provision in the second reconciliation bill passed in a June a \u201cmissed opportunity.\u201d \u201cThe fact that congressional leaders decided not to defund them as part of the last reconciliation bill is just beyond me. That was really taking the pro-life movement and pro-life voters for granted, because you\u2019re depending on those voters to turn out and vote for you in November,\u201d he told Politico<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

While the Heyde Amendment prohibits the federal funding of Medicaid to be used for direct abortion services except in cases of rape, incest, or risk of life to the mother, the funding has been used in the past for so-called pediatric \u201cgender-affirming care.\u201d According to Concerned Women for America<\/a>, Planned Parenthood\u2019s transgender services increased by 1,514%\u00a0from 2021 to 2022. That number increased another 40% from 2023 to 2024 and 2024 to 2025. In certain states like Illinois, Medicaid can be used to fund abortions without exceptions if the state uses its own funding.<\/a> Illinois is one of the biggest spenders in the Midwest on abortion services as many of its more conservative neighbors have passed abortion restrictions.<\/p>\n

Pro-life advocates announced their disappointment with Congress\u2019s inaction and called for the defunding to be renewed. \u201cThe bottom line, pro-life voters want to see healthcare money invested with those who intend for their patients to survive with their lives and fertility intact,\u201d said Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life Action and Students for Life of America, said in a statement<\/a>. Lila Rose, president of the pro-Life organization Live Action, called the ban expiring a \u201cmoral failure,\u201d adding, \u201cPresident Trump and Congress must act as fast as possible to restore and extend the defunding of Planned Parenthood and every organization that commits abortion.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The One Big Beautiful Bill\u2019s provision blocking Medicaid access for Planned Parenthood for one year has expired after the Republican-led Congress failed to renew the provision. The provision had been celebrated as a win by pro-life organizations, with Planned Parenthood losing access to around $830 million. During the year the provision lasted, around 30 Planned…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":516,"featured_media":32393,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nPro-Lifers Decry Planned Parenthood Refunding<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Planned Parenthood regains Medicaid access after GOP defunding ban expires, sparking backlash from pro-life advocates in Congress.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2026\/07\/pro-lifers-decry-planned-parenthood-refunding\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta 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