House Republicans’ Bill Delivers ‘Big, Beautiful’ Win for Pro-Life

House Republicans delivered on their promise to defund Big Abortion on Thursday by passing the budget reconciliation bill that has consumed Washington’s attention for the past three months.

In the bill, the House GOP removed Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood, the largest provider of abortions in the country. The effort had been supported by dozens of pro-life legislators from around the country.

The move is a monumental win for pro-lifers because Planned Parenthood receives more than one-third of its overall funding from the U.S. government through grants, contracts, and Medicaid reimbursements. That translates to about $2 million per day, which taxpayers are on the hook for. Furthermore, taxpayer funding for the organization has been on an upward trajectory for about the past dozen years, having increased by 50% since 2013. 

But the House reconciliation bill halts that trend by ending the flow of Medicaid dollars to Planned Parenthood, except in abortion cases for rape or incest. Planned Parenthood is also a major provider of hormones for so-called transgender transitions in the country, which means defunding it is also combating the organization’s efforts in that regard as well. 

“One of the largest providers of hormones for gender-transition procedures can no longer receive federal funding [from Medicaid],” Connor Semelsberger, a government relations director at The Heritage Foundation, told The Daily Signal.  

That gets Planned Parenthood “out of our pockets, not just, you know, for the sliver of money that would be spent on abortions, but for everything they’re doing, because they’re not a ‘good government’ partner,” Katie Glenn Daniel, director of legal affairs and policy counsel at Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, told The Daily Signal.

“Planned Parenthood alone performs 400,000 abortions every year, and if you look at their own press releases, they talk about how reliant they are on our taxpayer dollars, so it’s more than time for them to get off the government dole,” Daniel said.

Semelsberger emphasized that the language defunding Planned Parenthood was for the maximum time that the House could do so under reconciliation, which is 10 years. 

Planned Parenthood for its part has publicly opposed the bill, with its president, Alexis McGill Johnson, saying in part that the bill was “about punishing Planned Parenthood health centers for providing abortion care.”

A recent study found that Planned Parenthood facilities are outnumbered by community health centers at a 15-to-1 ratio across the country, meaning that many Americans can choose many other options for their health care. 

“There is no excuse for forcing taxpayers to prop up a scandal-ridden industry that prioritizes abortions, gender transitions, and partisan political activism, instead of prenatal care, cancer screening, and other legitimate health services that are in continual decline,” Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of the Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said on Thursday. 

The action in the House shows the persistence and effectiveness of pro-life advocates even after the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022. 

Terry Schilling, president of the American Principles Project, a pro-family organization, praised the Republicans in a statement. 

“This morning, President Trump and [House Speaker Mike] Johnson delivered for the American family! The One Big, Beautiful Bill that passed the House will end taxpayer funding for gender-transition surgeries, defund Planned Parenthood, and increase the Child Tax Credit—all are monumental wins for our great nation,” Schilling said, adding:

“Now it is time for the Senate to get this bill across the finish line, so we can Make Families Great Again.” 

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