DATE:
November 18, 2025
19
TO:
Board of Supervisors
SUBJECT
Title
SUPPORTING LAWSUITS TO PROTECT PLANNED PARENTHOOD AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH ACCESS (DISTRICTS: ALL)
Body
OVERVIEW
Across the country, a little-known section of the new federal budget law, H.R. 1, has thrown the nation's reproductive health care system into crisis. The law imposes a one-year ban on Medicaid reimbursements to nonprofit providers that also offer abortion services, cutting off all Planned Parenthood services from their critical source of funding.
The law, which went into effect July 4, prohibits Medicaid reimbursements for any large nonprofit health clinic who provide abortions, even though federal funding is never used for abortions. Medicaid has long excluded abortion coverage under the Hyde Amendment, but this new restriction goes much further, blocking reimbursement for non-abortion services such as cancer screenings, contraception, and STI screenings and treatments that millions of families rely on to stay healthy.
The impacts are severe and immediate. In California, nearly 80 percent of Planned Parenthood patients rely on Medicaid to afford care. Without federal reimbursements, many health centers face the prospect of closing or reducing services, leaving tens of thousands without affordable options for basic health care. At least 20 Planned Parenthood clinics across seven states have already closedi. In October, seven primary care clinics run by Planned Parenthood in Orange and San Bernardino counties announced their closure, citing the loss of roughly $100 million in Medicaid reimbursementsii. Planned Parenthood officials warn that up to 200 clinics nationwide could ultimately be at risk if the federal ban remains in place.
These clinics are about basic health care. Abortions account for less than ten percent of services provided by California affiliatesiii. The vast majority of visits are for preventive care, birth control, cancer screenings, and testing and trea...
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