A one-year restriction on Planned Parenthood’s Medicaid funding ended July 4 after Congress did not extend the prohibition, prompting renewed pressure from pro-life groups ahead of the midterm elections.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Planned Parenthood’s access to Medicaid funding resumed July 4 after Congress failed to extend a one-year federal funding restriction enacted under President Donald Trump.
The funding cutoff was included in the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act, which Trump signed in July 2025. Republican lawmakers had initially sought a 10-year restriction on Planned Parenthood’s federal funding, but the provision was ultimately reduced to one year.
That one-year period expired as the country marked its 250th birthday, allowing the nation’s largest abortion provider to regain access to hundreds of millions of dollars in Medicaid funding.
The lapse has drawn criticism from pro-life activists who had urged Trump and Republican lawmakers to prevent the funding from restarting.
Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America, warned during a June 27 speech at the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority Conference that Planned Parenthood could regain more than $600 million if Congress did not act before the deadline.
Hawkins called on Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress to defund Planned Parenthood “for good,” saying Republicans should not assume pro-life voters will remain engaged without results.
“This week we started our week at Students for Life on the picket line in front of the RNC [Republican National Committee] headquarters here in town, not because we’re anyone’s enemy, because we wanted to remind the Party that we all belong to that we have to see a return on our investments,” Hawkins said in her June speech. “We want to keep this coalition together for November.”
The expiration followed a failed Senate effort earlier this year to continue the funding prohibition. Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley sought to extend the Planned Parenthood funding cut through an amendment to the budget resolution in April, but the Senate narrowly rejected the measure, according to Politico.
Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voted against the amendment.
House Speaker Mike Johnson has expressed interest in pursuing a third reconciliation bill, and some House Freedom Caucus Republicans want that legislation to include a provision extending Planned Parenthood’s defunding, according to The Hill.
The proposal faces uncertainty in the Senate, where Republicans hold a narrow majority and some lawmakers are wary of reopening an abortion-related fight before the November midterm elections, the outlet reported.
Outgoing Republican Montana Sen. Steve Daines said an extension was unlikely before the July 4 deadline because another reconciliation package would be needed to restore the funding prohibition, according to NOTUS. Trump’s One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act was also passed through reconciliation.
Pro-life groups are now pressing Republicans to use reconciliation again when lawmakers return to Washington.
“Defunding Big Abortion is now the default expectation of the pro-life movement. When they return to D.C., Republicans must do all they can through reconciliation to once again block taxpayer dollars from Planned Parenthood and abortion businesses,” Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said in a July 1 statement.
Hawley and Johnson did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment.
The expiration leaves Republican lawmakers facing renewed pressure from pro-life organizations that view Planned Parenthood funding as a central issue for the party’s base heading into the midterms. While some Republicans are pushing to revive the prohibition, others are weighing the political risks of another abortion-related fight in a closely divided Senate.
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