Planned Parenthood says California’s ‘cruel’ proposed budget cuts would ‘defund’ it

Planned Parenthood is raising alarm over California Governor Gavin Newsom’s “shocking” and “cruel” budget proposal, which it claims will reduce its annual budget in the state by one-third.

The proposal would move $500 million from a fund designated for “family planning and women’s health care” to help offset the state’s $12 billion budget deficit.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• A $12 billion budget shortfall in California led to a proposed half billion-dollar funding redistribution away from Proposition 56 (funding family planning/reproductive healthcare) toward Proposition 35 (a Medi-Cal expansion).

• Planned Parenthood claims the move will “immensely harm patients in California” by creating “even more barriers to accessing reproductive health care” by “effectively defunding” the abortion corporation in the state.

• Newsom, an abortion supporter, says he is willing to “make adjustments… in partnership with the legislature… in the spirit of our support…” of Planned Parenthood.

• Only 2% (estimated) of all women of reproductive age receive services from Planned Parenthood.

WHAT’S HAPPENING:

According to KTUV, Newsom’s budget “eliminates half a billion dollars towards Proposition 56, which pays for dental, family planning, and women’s health providers to make room for funding the voter-mandated Prop 35, which expands Medi-Cal.”

“With this May budget revision, Governor Newsom is effectively defunding Planned Parenthood in the state of California,” Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California CEO and President Jodi Hicks told Newsweek. “Make no mistake: this crushing proposal—the same morning Congress debated whether or not to defund Planned Parenthood nationwide—would immensely harm patients in California.”

She continued with the claim that, “As a result of these cuts, Planned Parenthood’s ability to provide care would be severely impacted. Low-income Californians who depend on Planned Parenthood and other safety-net providers will endure longer wait times, have fewer appointment options, need to travel farther distances to access care, and will face even more barriers to accessing reproductive health care. To put it simply, these cuts are plain cruel.”

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Hicks says Planned Parenthood will push back on the budget proposal. “We’ll certainly be fighting back and working with the legislature to ensure that these do not move forward,” she said.

Newsom is well-known as a strong supporter of abortion, and has worked to make California an “abortion destination.” He says he hopes to reach a negotiation the abortion giant can support.

“I absolutely am committed to any adjustments that we can make in partnership with the legislature to address those anxieties in the spirit of our support that has historically been placed,” he said.

Newsom’s Director of Communications, Izzy Gardon, stated that Newsom has no intention of allowing a budget that would harm Planned Parenthood. “At a time when Donald Trump and Mike Johnson are working to gut access to basic reproductive care, Governor Newsom is not going to sign a budget that would shut down health clinics across California,” Gardon told KCRA. “Any suggestion otherwise is laughably absurd.”

The state is not expected to release a finalized budget until June.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

Though Planned Parenthood has long positioned itself as a leading provider of health care, the abortion business serves an estimated two percent (2%) of all women of reproductive age in the United States, and its facilities are outnumbered 25 to 1 by Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), which offers low-income women the health care they and their children need — without killing preborn children.

Editor’s Note, 5/23/25: This article has been updated with an additional quote from the office of Governor Gavin Newsom.