Pro-Life Groups Still Fighting Hard to Defund Planned Parenthood Again

Pro-life advocates are pressing Republican lawmakers block federal funding for the Planned Parenthood abortion company after a one-year defunding provision expired

That allowed the nation’s largest abortion business to again receive more than $800 million annually through Medicaid.

The provision was included in President Donald Trump’s reconciliation bill, signed July 4, 2025, and was celebrated by pro-life groups as the first federal defunding of Planned Parenthood and other large abortion companies. Leaders say the temporary measure saved lives and contributed to abortion center closures, but its expiration has restored the flow of taxpayer dollars that they argue strengthens Planned Parenthood’s ability to kill babies in abortions.

“Last summer, the pro-life movement celebrated a historic milestone: the first federal defunding of Planned Parenthood and other large abortion providers,” said Evan Lenow, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. “We celebrate the impact this one-year provision had on the lives that were saved and the abortion clinics that permanently closed their doors, but we grieve that its expiration means that Planned Parenthood can now, once again, receive federal reimbursements under Medicaid.”

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Lenow said he has urged lawmakers in recent Washington meetings to strip federal funding entirely from Planned Parenthood.

“This includes finding legislative pathways in Congress to renew the now-expired defund provision, while also calling upon the White House to protect life through executive branch action,” he said. “We have urged the Trump administration, in particular, to not delay in reinstating the Protect Life Rule, a commonsense regulation that would prevent abortion providers from receiving federal dollars under the Title X Family Planning Program.”

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., has similarly called on fellow Republicans to act.

“Is this Congress, a Republican Congress, going to provide hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer money to the worst, most notorious abortion provider in the United States of America?” Hawley asked at a July 16 Capitol Hill press conference. “There is no excuse, none, for Planned Parenthood to be receiving taxpayer money to be carrying out the murder of the innocent unborn.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson has indicated continued commitment, telling the Washington Examiner, “I come from the pro-life movement. Everybody knows where my resolve is. We’re going to get the job done as soon as we can.”