Pro-life advocates call on Trump, Congress to fully defund Planned Parenthood

WASHINGTON (OSV News) -- A coalition of pro-life groups went to the U.S. Capitol March 27 to urge Congress and President Donald Trump's administration to eliminate federal funding for Planned Parenthood, shortly before the Supreme Court is set to consider a case concerning that funding.

The high court is scheduled to hear oral argument in Kerr v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic on April 2, regarding South Carolina's attempt to prevent Planned Parenthood from participating in its Medicaid health program. The case could be a major test of the nation's largest abortion provider's ability to use public funds in states that have restricted abortion.

Supporters of allowing Planned Parenthood to receive Medicaid funds point to that group's involvement in cancer screening and prevention services -- such as pap tests and HPV vaccinations -- but critics argue the funds are fungible and could be used to facilitate abortion.

Efforts to strip Planned Parenthood of public funds are sometimes referred to as "defunding."

At the March 27 event near the Capitol Reflecting Pool, pro-life groups urged lawmakers to eliminate Planned Parenthood's federal funding through the budget reconciliation process.

"There's been a lot of conversation since Dobbs -- since we together did a historic act in building a movement that would overturn Roe v. Wade -- a lot of discussion about whether we were unified as a movement or not," said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, which works to elect pro-life candidates to public office.

"And I can tell you one thing, this movement is completely unified in its first priority, and that is to defund big abortion in this reconciliation bill," she said.

Reconciliation is a legislative procedure that would allow the Republican majority to bypass the Senate filibuster to pass a budget resolution with a simple majority -- instead of needing 60 votes first to end debate -- as long as both chambers agree to, or reconcile, their versions of such legislation.

"We have a strong pro-life majority in the Senate; we have a slim, but strong pro-life majority in the House, and we're ready to do it," Dannenfelser said.

But a path to doing so was not yet clear. Republicans still face several hurdles on other issues as they aim to pass Trump's multi-trillion dollar agenda, including still-conflicting versions of the budget framework passed by each chamber.

Multiple members of Congress who spoke at the event argued Trump has frozen federal funding for Planned Parenthood, appearing to reference a report by The Wall Street Journal that the Trump administration plans to freeze $27.5 million in federal family-planning grants to groups including Planned Parenthood as part of its probe into diversity, equity and inclusion programs, sometimes referred to as DEI, within federal agencies.

But those Title X funds would represent just a fraction of the taxpayer funds Planned Parenthood receives annually. The group's most recent annual report shows it received almost $700 million in taxpayer funds -- in the form of government health services reimbursements and grants -- for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2023.

Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America and Students for Life Action, told OSV News that the frozen Title X grants are "a good sign."

"I think, for me, it shows us that our messaging is resonating to the administration," she said.
"So I think it's a good sign," Hawkins added. "But it's a first step -- very much still a very first step -- and there's a lot we need to do."

At the event, Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., a Catholic lawmaker and co-chair of the House Pro-Life Caucus, said that reconciliation legislation "offers an important opportunity to stop funding abortion purveyors like Planned Parenthood."

"This is an opportunity we cannot afford to miss," he said.

Jennie Bradley Lichter, president of the March for Life, pointed to recent New York Times reporting about botched abortions of unborn children, and inadequately trained staff at some Planned Parenthood clinics. She argued those problems showed the group should not be receiving taxpayer funds.

"It sure seems to me like the gig is finally up," she said.