Bicameral legislation to reverse “defund” Planned Parenthood provision in Republicans’ reconciliation bill is endorsed by Planned Parenthood & more than 125 original cosponsors
Senator Murray has led the fight in the Senate against Republican efforts to defund Planned Parenthood, offered an amendment to strip “defund” provision out of the reconciliation bill—Republicans blocked it
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, joined Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) and U.S. Representatives Laura Friedman (CA-30), Nikema Williams (GA-5), and Chris Pappas (NH-1) in introducing theRestoring Essential Healthcare Act this week, a bicameral bill that repeals the federal ban on Medicaid reimbursements to Planned Parenthood that Republicans recently enacted as part of their partisan reconciliation legislation, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
The legislation strikes Section 71113 of Republicans’ reconciliation bill, which prohibits federal Medicaid payments to Planned Parenthood clinics that offer reproductive health care and other essential health care services. The provision puts nearly 200 Planned Parenthood clinics at risk of closure, endangering access to health care for more than two million patients across the country.
“Republicans have been pushing for years to defund Planned Parenthood, because they want to ban abortion nationwide—and they don’t care if they rip away access to cancer screenings, contraception, or other essential preventive care for millions of women in the process,” said Senator Murray. “Our bill is simple: it would reverse the provision Republicans enacted into law that cuts Planned Parenthood and other women’s health clinics off from federal Medicaid funding. In many communities, Planned Parenthood is the only place women can go to get basic preventive care, no matter their income. I’m proud to join my colleagues in this effort to save essential health care.”
“I worked at Planned Parenthood. I saw how controlling your own health care allows you to make the best decisions about the course of your life – your education, your work and your family,” said Senator Smith. “Planned Parenthood offers so much more than abortion services. In many communities it is the only clinic to provide cancer screenings, birth control, and STI screening. This bill takes a critical step to restore Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood, to ensure these clinics are equipped with the resources they need to provide essential health care, and to give patients back the right to choose their health care provider.”
“President Trump and his allies in Congress chose to devastate our nation’s already fractured health care system when they passed a backdoor abortion ban ‘defunding’ Planned Parenthood. With this provision, they have put nearly 200 health centers at risk of closing and threatened over a million people’s access to cancer screenings, STI testing and treatment, birth control, and other essential services, all in order to push an unpopular, anti-abortion agenda. We are thankful to Sens. Smith (D-MN) and Murray (D-WA) and Reps. Friedman (D-CA-30), Pappas (D-NH-1), and Williams (D-GA-5) for introducing the Restoring Essential Healthcare Act, and for championing access to high-quality, affordable reproductive care. Everyone deserves health care, and we will continue to fight every day to make that possible,” said Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Action Fund.
The ban on Medicaid reimbursements to Planned Parenthood could leave thousands of patients in every state with no place to seek essential reproductive care and other vital health services. Every year, Planned Parenthood provides health care to more than two million people, including STI testing, breast exams, birth control, HPV vaccines, and other critical services.
The Restoring Essential Healthcare Act has been endorsed by Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Center for Reproductive Rights, Reproductive Freedom Caucus, All* Above All, Guttmacher Institute, National Abortion Federation, National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, National Council of Jewish Women, National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association, National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice, National Network of Abortion Funds, National Partnership for Women & Families, National Women’s Law Center Action Fund, Reproductive Freedom for All, Physicians for Reproductive Health, Power to Decide.
There are 133 original cosponsors of the Restoring Essential Healthcare Act in the House, including Williams*, Pappas*, Amo, Auchincloss, Balint, Barragán, Bell, Beyer, Bonamici, Brownley, Budzinski, Carbajal, Carson, Carter, Case, Casten, Castor, Cherfilus-McCormick, Chu, Cisneros, Clarke, Cleaver, Cohen, Correa, Craig, Crockett, Davids, Davis, DeGette, DelBene, Deluzio, DeSaulnier, Dexter, Doggett, Elfreth, Escobar, Evans, Fletcher, Foushee, Frankel, Frost, Garamendi, Garcia (TX), Goldman, Goodlander, Gottheimer, Horsford, Houlahan, Hoyle, Huffman, Ivey, Jacobs, Jackson, Johnson (GA), Kamlager-Dove, Kaptur, Kelly, Kennedy, Khanna, Krishnamoorthi, Landsman, Larson, Lee (PA), Leger Fernandez, Levin, Liccardo, Lieu, Lofgren, Lynch, Mannion, Matsui, McBath, McBride, McClellan, McGovern, McIver, Meeks, Menendez, Meng, Min, Moore, Morelle, Morrison, Moulton, Mullin, Nadler, Norton, Olszewski, Panetta, Pelosi, Peters, Pettersen, Pingree, Pocan, Pou, Quigley, Ramirez, Randall, Raskin, Ross, Ryan, Salinas, Scanlon, Schakowsky, Schneider, Sewell, Sherman, Sherrill, Simon, Sorensen, Soto, Stansbury, Stanton, Stevens, Strickland, Sykes, Takano, Thanedar, Thompson (CA), Titus, Tlaib, Tokuda, Tonko, Torres (NY), Torres (CA), Trahan, Underwood, Veasey, Velázquez, Wasserman Schultz, Waters, Watson Coleman, Wilson.
Senator Murray has been the leading voice in the Senate speaking out and raising the alarm against Republican efforts to defund Planned Parenthood. After the Parliamentarian allowed Republicans to proceed with their long-sought goal of defunding Planned Parenthood in their reconciliation bill, Senator Murray put forward an amendment to strike the provision—Republicans blocked it.
At her recent Senate forum on the anniversary of the Dobbs decision, Senator Murray spoke about Republicans’ plan to institute a backdoor nationwide abortion ban and laid out how defunding Planned Parenthood is a key part of that strategy. Last month, Senator Murray delivered a lengthy speech on the Senate floor where she laid out in detail how Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act will rip away health care from millions of Americans, shutter the doors of hospitals and health care clinics across the country, make the largest cuts to Medicaid and nutrition assistance in history, and blow up the national debt—all so Republicans can fund massive tax breaks for billionaires.
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