In July of 2025, President Donald Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) into law. A large policy package focused on the federal budget and tax deductions, OBBBA imposes a ban on state Medicaid payments to Planned Parenthood until July 2026. Planned Parenthood is currently the largest single provider of abortions in the United States, which has made it a target for the conservative Trump administration, although the majority of the care Planned Parenthood provides is preventative, including birth control, cancer screening, and testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections. “Planned Parenthood is a vital part of the medical community. They serve many people who otherwise would not have access to preventative health services, they accept Medicaid (and other insurance) for reimbursement, and are able to provide their services on a sliding fee schedule for those who have no insurance,” writes Dr. Marguerite Cohen, medical director at Cascade Women’s Health PC.
In addition to impacting Planned Parenthood, the law also affects Maine Family Planning and Health Imperatives, networks of reproductive healthcare clinics in Maine and Massachusetts respectively. Under Section 71113 of the OBBBA, federal Medicaid funding is cut for nonprofit health care providers that serve predominantly low-income, medically underserved individuals; offer abortions in cases other than that of rape, incest, or life-threatening conditions; and received over $800,000 in federal funding in 2023. “[A]bortion opponents at the state and federal level … argue that by allowing providers that also offer abortion services to remain in the Medicaid program, federal funds that go to these providers for other services indirectly subsidize abortion services with federal Medicaid dollars,” notes an article from KFF.org. Supporters of Planned Parenthood and similar providers contend that withholding these funds harms access to vital care. “These are targeted actions of the government because Planned Parenthood provides abortion services, even though those services are not paid for by the federal government Medicaid funds. [Planned Parenthood] and other abortion providers have been targeted for years,” writes Cohen.
While many states, including Oregon, have supplied funds to fill the gap created by Section 71113, nearly 70 clinics across the country closed in 2025 due to federal funding cuts, and 20 of these closures were directly in response to the OBBBA. “This has barred access to healthcare services for thousands of patients that often have nowhere else to go for their care,” says Annalisa Schallerer, a women’s health nurse practitioner at Pearl Women’s Center. “Planned Parenthood provides more than abortion care — many Planned Parenthood affiliates even provide primary care services, which is an area where we see significant shortages in providers, leaving many individuals without access to basic healthcare.” Since clinics are run independently, it is up to the individual clinic to decide whether they are able to afford to stay in business. Clinic closures are especially impactful in rural areas, where finding care is already difficult.
In the months since OBBBA was signed into law, many Planned Parenthood clinics have absorbed the cost of patient care in order to still provide services to those using Medicaid. However, this is not sustainable long-term. More than half of Planned Parenthood patients use Medicaid coverage, meaning that by blocking it, millions of Americans will either be forced to pay out-of-pocket or not be able to access vital care entirely. “Many patients turn to Planned Parenthood during times in their lives when they are most vulnerable, and restricting access for these individuals is a disservice that I believe will have widespread impacts on communities across the U.S.,” says Shallerer.
OBBBA cuts will impact the non-abortion services provided at Planned Parenthood, as it has been illegal to use federal funding for abortions — except in very specific cases — since the 1977 Hyde Amendment. This means that cutting federal Medicaid funding has affected care such as STI testing, cancer screening, and contraceptive access. As Planned Parenthood is the largest single provider of sexual and reproductive healthcare, removing insurance coverage from over half of their approximately two million patients makes accessing vital preventative care much more difficult. Schallerer states, “We are witnessing the dangers of politicians becoming involved in these decisions currently, as more restrictions on the ability to provide healthcare are being implemented by politicians who understand very little about medicine or women’s health.”
Access to affordable healthcare is the cornerstone of a healthy society — when policies are created that make getting care more difficult and more expensive, the implications are huge, especially for already underserved communities. “I believe that contraception is a basic human right. I believe that everyone has a right to bodily autonomy, guaranteed by the Constitution, and upheld for nearly 50 years by the Roe v. Wade decision,” writes Cohen. With this act comes an added barrier to accessible healthcare, which is proving to have significant implications for many Americans. “Ensuring that healthcare decisions remain between a patient and their clinician begins by protecting these rights at a policy level,” says Schallerer. “The overall health of our nation, and our autonomy as individuals to be able to plan to start a family when we are ready to do so, is jeopardized by these senseless funding cuts.”
