Reproductive Health Advocates Sound the Alarm as Trump Defund of Planned Parenthood Now in Effect
- California Future of Abortion Council
- Sep 18, 2025
- 2 min read
September 17, 2025
Contact Information
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Sacramento, CA – Last Thursday, the Federal 1st Circuit Court of Appeals ruled to allow the Trump Administration to prohibit funding for Planned Parenthood health centers delivering care to Medicaid patients. Trump’s back-door abortion ban took effect July 4th with the enactment of the federal reconciliation bill H.R. 1, but was subsequently paused from impacting Planned Parenthood by a preliminary injunction. Last week’s action dissolved the preliminary injunction, meaning that California’s Planned Parenthood health centers – effective immediately – can no longer receive any reimbursements that include federal funding for any services they provide, including all sexual and reproductive health care rendered to patients who rely on Medicaid (Medi-Cal in California) nationwide.
The California Future of Abortion (FAB) Council leaders released the following statement urging state leaders to step in and protect access to essential health care:
Last week’s devastating federal court decision allowing the Trump Administration to prohibit Planned Parenthood health centers from receiving any funding for the services they provide in the Medicaid program has started the time clock on the survival of more than 100 health centers across the state that provide abortion and other essential reproductive health services. With more than 80% of Planned Parenthood patients relying on Medi-Cal programs to access care, this action will irreparably damage California’s reproductive health care safety net and will have severe public health consequences.
California is not immune to ongoing federal attacks on access to reproductive health care. Their efforts to defund key reproductive health providers, including Planned Parenthood, not only threaten access to abortion in states like California where it is legal, but also jeopardize access to the full spectrum of reproductive health care. The reality is, absent immediate state intervention, more Planned Parenthood health centers and other abortion providers will close. People across the state will face difficulty accessing abortion, contraceptive care and counseling, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, breast and cervical cancer screenings, and many more essential services.
If California wants to remain a leading Reproductive Freedom State, as voters overwhelmingly enshrined into the state’s constitution just three years ago, then it must do everything in its power to ensure the state’s largest reproductive health care provider continues to have a footprint in our state’s health care system, especially for patients relying on Medi-Cal programs for care. Protecting our fragile safety net is not only a moral imperative but an existential one. To preserve the health, dignity, and rights of millions—and the future of reproductive freedom in California and nationwide—California must act expeditiously to keep the health centers that provide abortion services open and able to provide the reproductive health care people need and deserve.
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CONTACT INFORMATION
Sylvia Castillo, California Coalition for Reproductive Freedom