Aaron Flint: The One Big Beautiful Bill Sought To Defund Planned Parenthood And Incentivized Insurance Companies To Drop Abortion Coverage

The One Big Beautiful Bill Cut Medicaid Funds To Organizations That Provide Abortions And Sought To “Defund” Planned Parenthood

The One Big Beautiful Bill Would Cut Medicaid Funds To Organizations That Provide Abortions. “While most Americans were still sleeping in the early morning hours of May 22, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1 in a slim 215-214 vote, electing to push forward President Donald Trump’s sweeping 1,000-page legislative package. The bill includes billions of dollars in cuts to Medicaid, which would lead to reduced access for millions of people to reproductive health care. The bill, called the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” includes provisions that would cut Medicaid funds to organizations that provide abortions, including Planned Parenthood.” [Pennsylvania Independent, 5/27/25]

The One Big Beautiful Bill Would “Defund” Planned Parenthood. “The bill would ‘defund’ Planned Parenthood, decimating access to basic reproductive care for more than 1.1 million people, including for birth control, wellness exams, STI tests and treatment, and lifesaving cancer screenings. People who rely on Medicaid to get these services often have no other alternative provider and wouldn’t be able to afford to access health care.” [Planned Parenthood Action, 6/6/25]

• A Federal Judge Found That A Provision In Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Forced Planned Parenthood To Choose Between Continuing To Offer Abortion Services, Or Face A “Catastrophic Loss Of Revenue.” “A federal judge on Monday indefinitely blocked the Trump administration from enforcing a policy that would prevent many Planned Parenthood clinics from receiving federal Medicaid reimbursements if they continue to offer abortion services. The order, issued by Judge Indira Talwani in Federal District Court in Massachusetts, extended a temporary block she had placed on the government earlier this month. She found that the policy retaliated against Planned Parenthood in violation of its First Amendment rights and could amount to an unconstitutional ‘legislative punishment.’ The lawsuit, filed earlier this month, came in response to a provision introduced in the sprawling policy bill that President Trump signed into law early this month. The bill imposed a one-year ban on state Medicaid payments to any health care nonprofit that offers abortions and received more than $800,000 in Medicaid funding in 2023. Many clinics affiliated with Planned Parenthood, which provide a range of services unrelated to abortion, immediately faced a choice between altering their operations and retaining millions of dollars in funding, or facing a potentially catastrophic loss of revenue. Because almost no other nonprofits or national networks meet the $800,000 threshold set in the bill, Judge Talwani found it was “easily ascertainable” that the provision was targeted and intended to force Planned Parenthood’s hand.” [New York Times, 7/28/25]

The One Big Beautiful Bill Incentivized Insurers For Affordable Care Act Plans To Drop Abortion Coverage

Vox: “President Donald Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ Would Not Only Directly Threaten Reproductive Care By Defunding Planned Parenthood And Other Abortion Providers, It Would Also Incentivize Insurers For Affordable Care Act Plans In Some States To Drop Abortion Coverage Or Make It Significantly More Expensive.” “Three years after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Republicans in Congress are poised to further erode access to abortion and reproductive care. President Donald Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ would not only directly threaten reproductive care by defunding Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers, it would also incentivize insurers for Affordable Care Act plans in some states to drop abortion coverage or make it significantly more expensive. And it would slash Medicaid coverage, impacting Americans’ ability to access medical care of all sorts. Though Medicaid funds cannot fund abortions except under very narrow circumstances, the cuts would threaten access to non-abortion reproductive care. Many abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood, also offer health care in the form of contraceptives, treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, and cervical cancer screenings.” [Vox, 6/30/25]

• Vox Headline: “The Republican Spending Bill Is A Disaster For Reproductive Rights.” [Vox, 6/30/25]