Republican Members of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate have been working diligently on the process known as reconciliation that will allow a tax and spending bill to be passed with simple majorities. The next step in that process is for the House to agree to the Senate’s version of a budget resolution, despite different levels of spending cuts. Thankfully, both chambers and the White House have found areas of unity — the need to protect taxpayer money from waste, fraud, and unpopular spending. One such issue is the need to prevent our hard-earned money from being used to promote and perform abortions.
As usual, no one is counting on Democrat votes to push this bill over the finish line. The Left seems to have no interest in cutting wasteful spending. They would rather prop up bad practices and mismanagement in programs intended to help the most vulnerable among us. One of these items is Medicaid’s payments toward Planned Parenthood. Medicaid’s primary purpose is to provide health coverage to low-income, children, pregnant women, families, seniors, and people with disabilities. Not only is the program being abused by able-bodied Americans, but the pro-abortion lobby has been able to fund Planned Parenthood through Medicaid.
Pro-life groups are urging Congress to defund Planned Parenthood in the reconciliation package, but the process can be tricky. Reconciliation only addresses “mandatory” spending that has been implemented by certain laws, such as Medicaid and Social Security. The Senate has an additional requirement under the “Byrd Rule” that the policies included in the bill do not change the level of spending, revenues, or debt limit. With no specific law mandating that Planned Parenthood or abortion clinics receive federal funds (only agency regulations), much of that money would fall under “discretionary.” However, since Medicaid funding falls under “mandatory” spending, Congress can take a scalpel to the program to specifically eliminate money spent at abortion clinics.
In 2018, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster signed an executive order to block abortion clinics from receiving Medicaid payments in the state. This effectively removed Planned Parenthood from the state’s qualified list of providers. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case in which Planned Parenthood sued to have these funds restored. Proponents of the executive order argued that state and federal laws do not allow taxpayer-funded abortions, but opponents claim that the order illegally targets Planned Parenthood. In previous reconciliation bills, Senators found themselves in a similar position when the parliamentarian ruled that Planned Parenthood could not be exclusively called out by name. However, in 2015 and 2017, the bill passed with language defunding “abortion providers” rather than the Planned Parenthood organization.
Abortion clinics will certainly feel the pain if Medicaid funds are eliminated. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that between 2019-2021, Planned Parenthood received $1.54 billion in Medicaid and CHIP payments alone. When Democrats fearmonger about how cuts to Medicaid in the reconciliation bill will affect low-income citizens, it’s a farce. What they are really worried about is fewer abortions.
Planned Parenthood is most famous for its horrific work in the abortion industry, but they have expanded in recent years to providing so-called “gender transition” drugs. Medicaid is subject to the Affordable Care Act which pressures insurance companies to include coverage related to sexual orientation and gender identity. Thus, Medicaid is covering some of these mutilating procedures for children and adults.
Planned Parenthood has a clear record of providing services that kill, injure, or maim suffering people. Believe them when they say that abortion isn’t the only service they provide because they have and will find more ways to destroy the lives of the living. Our taxpayer dollars should not fund this horrific industry.
The South Carolina case (Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic) will likely be decided by summer and, if a favorable outcome is reached, could be monumental for other states to follow suit.
