Washington, D.C. – As Congress continues to debate President Trump’s Big Ugly Bill, U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) highlighted how Republicans’ legislation will rob nearly 1 million Californians of their access to reproductive health care through the defunding of critical health services provided by Planned Parenthood and other reproductive health centers.
If passed in the House and signed into law, Republicans’ Big Ugly Bill will block federal funding from being used for services provided by Planned Parenthood, robbing nearly one million Medi-Cal patients of an important resource for reproductive care.
“The Big Ugly Bill continues the Republican Party’s crusade against reproductive health care by defunding Planned Parenthoods – including the 115 health centers in California. That means basic access to health care stripped away from millions of women. The fight isn’t over. I’m doing everything I can to stop this,” said Senator Schiff.
In California, there are 115 Planned Parenthood health centers that support 1.3 million total visits annually.
Planned Parenthood is the leading provider of sexual and reproductive health care for millions of patients in the U.S., offering services such as birth control, abortion care, and cancer screenings. The defunding of Planned Parenthood services will also put additional stress on remaining federally qualified health centers that lack the capacity to provide comprehensive care and properly meet patient needs.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, defunding Planned Parenthood will increase the federal deficit by $300 million.
Here’s what the defunding of Planned Parenthood will look like if the Big Ugly Bill is signed into law:
- Nearly 200 health centers across 24 states will be at risk of closure. Closures could eliminate one in four abortion providers nationwide, possibly shutting down half of Planned Parenthood health centers and stripping abortion access from millions of patients.
- Over 90% of Planned Parenthood closures will happen in states where abortion is legal and protected. Across 12 states, approximately 75% of health centers providing abortion care are at risk of closing.
- Further closures will continue to delay and take away care from all patients. Due to the Supreme Court’s disastrous 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, states with abortion access already struggle to treat both in- and out-of-state patients seeking abortion care. A lack of federal funding and subsequent closures leaves remaining health centers struggling to meet patient needs.
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