Washington state will fund Planned Parenthood following Medicaid cuts

Following an appeals court decision allowing the federal government to defund Planned Parenthood of Medicaid payments last week, Washington state has announced it will give more than $11 million in state taxpayer funding to the abortion giant.

Key Takeaways:

• Washington Governor Bob Ferguson said he will give more than $11 million in state taxpayer funding to Planned Parenthood to cover the federal Medicaid funding the abortion business stands to lose in the next year.

• The announcement comes after Ferguson and state lawmakers recently cut $8.5 million to the Abortion Access Project, which had routed the majority of the money to Planned Parenthood.

The Details:

The so-called "Big, Beautiful Bill" was signed into law in July with a prohibition on federal Medicaid funding for facilities that commit abortions and do not keep their abortion-business finances separate from the finances related to their legitimate health care services. This includes Planned Parenthood, which has 30 facilities in Washington. The provision was initially blocked, but an appeals court allowed it to go into effect last week. Multiple states said they intend to make up the difference.

Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson said he would give Planned Parenthood the more than $11 million it would lose over the next year in Medicaid funding. He called the Medicaid defunding a "cruel attack on reproductive rights..."

According to The Washington State Standard, Planned Parenthood will continue to submit claims to the state Health Care Authority for Medicaid Reimbursement as usual, but the money will only come from the state, not the federal government.

“The experience for Planned Parenthood and its patients will remain the same,” said Jennifer Martinez, spokesperson for Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates. “The only thing that’s changing is where the money is coming from.”

Ferguson's announcement is on the heels of his $8.5 million budget cut to the Abortion Access Project, which gives money to Planned Parenthood and other abortion businesses to pay for women's abortions. The Abortion Access Project was created by the state following the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June 2022, and Planned Parenthood would have received the majority of that money — $6.8 million over two years. However, there is the possibility that the money will be restored in a supplemental budget due to be released in December.

“We remain cautiously optimistic that this funding will be included in December’s budget,” said Martinez, adding that the abortion corporation “is in the midst of a perfect storm — increasing health care costs, workforce shortages, and attacks from a hostile Trump administration. The last thing Planned Parenthood providers and patients need is a funding cut from the state government.”

The Bottom Line:

Pro-abortion state lawmakers continue to give taxpayer money to Planned Parenthood despite the business's declining health care services and patient counts. The Charlotte Lozier Institute (CLI) recently released an analysis debunking the claim that without Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood, women will lose access to health care.

In the analysis, numerous alternatives to Planned Parenthood were listed, including Rural Health Clinics, Federally Qualified Health Clinics, and private doctors' offices. Medicaid recipients are already being widely served at private offices; there is no reason to believe these women will not be able to health care providers beyond Planned Parenthood.