Federal Funding for Planned Parenthood Restarts on Independence Day
On Independence Day, Americans celebrated our nation’s 250th birthday with much pomp and circumstance, especially in Washington D.C., which featured a presidential address and a dazzling display of 850,000 fireworks.
The day also marked an unhappy development – the resumption of federal taxpayer dollars flowing into the coffers of Planned Parenthood, our nation’s largest abortion provider.
It’s tragic a day celebrating the Declaration of Independence, which acknowledges each person’s right to “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,” became the day Planned Parenthood began raking in millions of dollars again.
The abortion giant cruelly denies those fundamental rights to preborn infants.
Last year, Congress successfully defunded Planned Parenthood for the first time in history, depriving the abortion business of roughly $850 million. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R. 1), which President Trump signed into law on July 4, 2025, cut taxes on American families, provided billions for border security and national defense, and defunded abortion organizations for a period of one year.
The defund provision (Section 71113) prohibited federal Medicaid dollars from going to any “prohibited entity” that provides abortions and received over $800,000 in Medicaid funding as of 2023.
The OBBBA originally contained a provision to defund Planned Parenthood for a 10-year period. However, this was drastically reduced to one year after Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough ruled the 10-year provision violated the chamber’s rules.
For months, it was unclear whether Section 71113 would take full effect after federal district Judge Indira Talwani, nominated to the court by former President Barack Obama, blocked the provision just days after the bill’s enactment.
Eventually, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit overturned Talwani’s decision and allowed Section 71113 to take effect. The provision formally expired on July 4, 2026.
The Hyde amendment generally prohibits federal taxpayer dollars from directly paying for abortions. But before Section 71113’s enactment, Planned Parenthood could receive federal monies, including government grants, contracts and Medicaid reimbursements, for other services.
All money is fungible, so these federal dollars subsidized the abortion business, allowing it to pay salaries, sustain operating expenses and expand into new locations.
In part because of the defunding from the OBBBA, Planned Parenthood closed nearly 50 clinics last year due to financial headwinds.
However, several blue states, including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon and Washington, stepped in to bail out the organization and provided over $202.5 million in supplemental funding to Planned Parenthood.
The Senate passed the OBBBA through the reconciliation process, allowing the bill to proceed with a simple majority vote (51) rather than the usually required 60 votes.
More recently, Congress passed a second bill through the reconciliation process in June 2026, providing $70 billion for increased immigration enforcement.
The legislative body could pass one more reconciliation package before the end of the year, but Republican lawmakers are divided on their priorities.
The conservative House Freedom Caucus recently penned a letter to Speaker of the House Mike Johnson calling for a Reconciliation 3.0 bill that extends the OBBBA’s “prohibition of federal funding for abortion providers to ensure that taxpayer dollars are not being used to subsidize the radical abortion industry.”
However, according to The Hill, many Senate Republicans “are cooler” to the idea with some lawmakers expressing a “general reluctance … to start an abortion fight so close to the midterms.”
In a statement to The Hill, pro-life activist Lila Rose said allowing Section 71113 to expire was a “moral failure” in need of correction.
“President Trump and Congress must act as fast as possible to restore and extend the defunding of Planned Parenthood and every organization that commits abortion,” Rose said.
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser said, “Defunding Big Abortion is now the default expectation of the pro-life movement. When they return to D.C., Republicans must do all they can through reconciliation to once again block taxpayer dollars from Planned Parenthood and abortion businesses.”
Indeed, an organization that kills over 400,000 preborn children each year does not deserve one red cent of taxpayer money. Congress must extend the defunding of Planned Parenthood, protecting Americans’ hard-earned taxpayer dollars, preborn babies and their mothers from the tragedy of abortion.
At Focus on the Family, we have been working to turn the cultural tide and save mothers and babies from abortion for years. Since beginning the Option Ultrasound Program in 2004, Focus has helped save over half a million lives. Just $60 will help save a life through Option Ultrasound. Will you partner with us to save lives from abortion?
If you are experiencing an unexpected pregnancy and want to learn more about your options, you can visit My Choice Network.
Related articles and resources:
Dealing With Unplanned Pregnancy
Become an Option Ultrasound Life Advocate
New Insights on the Dangers of the Abortion Pill
Overcoming Abortion and Becoming a Force for Life
Congress Must Extend Defund of Planned Parenthood
New Planned Parenthood Annual Report: More Abortions, Fewer Services
Planned Parenthood Drops Suit After Trying to Force Taxpayers to Fund Abortions
House Passes ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act,’ Finally Defunding Planned Parenthood
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