Planned Parenthood closes 5 California locations after Trump administration funding cuts
Five Planned Parenthood locations in California have closed following cuts to funding under the federal spending and tax bill signed into law earlier this month by President Trump, the organization said.
Clinics in Gilroy, Santa Cruz, Madera, San Mateo and South San Francisco, which were operated by Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, shuttered because of a provision in the bill that eliminated federal Medicaid funding to organizations that provide abortions. Planned Parenthood Mar Monte is the nonprofit organization's largest affiliate in the U.S., serving some 300,000 people annually at 30 health centers in California and Nevada.
The other services that will be lost because of the funding cuts are family medicine, behavioral health, and prenatal care, PPMM said.
"We are heartbroken and outraged to have to close five of our health centers (who have served over 22,000 patients in the past year) and sunset three crucial services," the affiliate said . "We understand that dedicated staff have been impacted because of this and we hope for, and continue to fight for, a future where we can serve these communities again."
Word of the closures comes on the same week that Planned Parenthood received a partial court victory against the provision of the bill, which passed without any Democratic votes in the House and Senate. The provision prohibits large clinics and providers that offer abortions from accepting Medicaid even if they provide other services such as reproductive health care services, STD testing, and cancer screening.
On Monday, a U.S. District Court judge granted a preliminary injunction that blocked the government from cutting Medicaid payments to Planned Parenthood member organizations that either do not provide abortion care or did not receive at least $800,000 in Medicaid payments in a year. The temporary restraining order by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani and directs the Department of Health and Human Services to "take all steps necessary to ensure that Medicaid funding continues to be disbursed" to Planned Parenthood.
Following the order, Planned Parenthood said this week that for those members not covered by the injunction, the defunding provision would go into effect.
Rep. Jimmy Panetta (D-Santa Cruz) vowing to pursue legal and state-level options to keep the clinics open.
"These cuts undermine a major part of the health care safety net for women and families, not just in our 19th Congressional District, but all across California," Panetta said. "Through legislation, litigation, and coordination with state and local leaders, we will continue to fight back."
Rep. Kevin Mullin (D-San Mateo) called the closures "a dark day for our district and the country" .
"I am outraged that two Planned Parenthood clinics in my district have been forced to close due to President Trump and Republicans' cuts to Medicaid," Mullin said. "Their Big Ugly Bill cuts Medicaid reimbursements to health care organizations like Planned Parenthood. Now, we're witnessing the real-world ramifications of the shameful extremism embodied by the Republican House majority."
While Medicaid funding is already prohibited from being used to cover abortions except in cases of rape, incest or risk to a mother's life, Planned Parenthood argues the new provision would make it harder for patients to access the non-abortion services offered by the group's local members.
Planned Parenthood says more than half of its patients use Medicaid, and cutting off funding would have "devastating effects" on the group and its local affiliates, forcing some local health centers to close.
"While we're grateful that the court recognized the harm caused by this law, we're disappointed that not all members were granted the necessary relief today," the organization . "The court has not yet ruled on whether it will grant preliminary injunctive relief to other members. We remain hopeful that the court will grant this relief. There will be nothing short of a public health crisis if Planned Parenthood members are allowed to be 'defunded.'"
In response to the ruling, a White House official said, "The Trump Administration is ending the forced use of Federal taxpayer dollars to fund or promote elective abortion – a commonsense position that the overwhelming majority of Americans agree with."
Recent polling by , , and finds most Americans believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while showed 49% of Americans believe it should be legal under in or most cases. In 2022, California voters passed an amendment to the state constitution that enshrines the right to reproductive freedom, including the right to have an abortion, by a two-thirds margin.
