The so-called “big beautiful bill,” which passed the U.S. House by a single vote, is being described as a political mixed bag of good and bad. One GOP lawmaker openly complained it failed to stop Washington’s “out-of-control spending,” but it is also being praised for pouring more money into ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, to speed up the deportation of illegal immigrants.
Another reason the bill is being praised is it finally separates U.S. tax dollars from Planned Parenthood, the country’s biggest, wealthiest, and most notorious abortion provider.
A majority of taxpayers’ dollars flow to Planned Parenthood through Medicaid reimbursements, and also through grants for family planning services. That funding added up to $792 million in revenue, 39% of the abortion provider's total revenue, in 2023.
Laura Echevarria, of National Right to Life, tells AFN Republicans in Congress were being urged to withdraw federal funding at the same time the abortion group broke its annual record for abortions. The most recent annual report, from 2023, said Planned Parenthood helped pregnant women kill 402,230 unborn children.
Citing the report, Echevarria says Planned Parenthood admitted it is performing fewer non-abortion services for women, such as cancer screenings, at the same time abortions increased.
“So their emphasis is on abortion,” she says. “That is what they push forward. That is what they lobby for, and that is certainly what they did more than anything else."
Katie Glenn Daniel, of Susan B. Anthony Pro Life America, says her organization was grateful to see the defending language survive in the reconciliation bill.
"Even if you never walk inside an abortion clinic,” she says, “they are getting your money through Medicaid, and they're getting it to the tune of $800 million a year. So enough is enough."
Both and Daniel tell AFN their pro-life groups are now urging GOP senators to keep the defunding in the bill, and they are urging pro-life voters to contact their senators, too, with the same message.
“You can absolutely call your senator,” Daniel says. “Let them know that you want to make sure that when the 'big beautiful bill' gets to President Trump's desk, defunding big abortion is in that bill.”
