(LifeSiteNews) — Planned Parenthood Arizona said it will no longer accept low-income Medicaid patients because doing so would require it to stop killing preborn babies.
The abortion vendor cited a provision in the budget bill passed this summer that mostly defunds non-profit abortion vendors for one year. It officially went into effect today, although legal challenges remain.
The organization blamed “anti-health care extremists in Congress” and President Donald Trump for the decision.
“This callous effort by politicians to ‘defund’ Planned Parenthood is an unconstitutional act that is now eliminating critical care from Arizona’s most vulnerable patients – namely, STI and cancer screenings and treatment, birth control, and other family planning services,” the group claimed in a press release which Fox 10 simply reprinted in whole as a news story.
However, experts have affirmed that cutting Planned Parenthood out from the Medicaid insurance program will not hurt low-income citizens.
A new report from the Charlotte Lozier Institute detailed how Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), and other government and non-profit health clinics can easily absorb Medicaid patients.
“Thousands of alternative providers, including federally qualified health centers, rural health clinics, and doctors’ offices, provide comprehensive health care that Planned Parenthood doesn’t and are important options that can help fill any gap,” the pro-life think tank reported.
The group reports that other states have cut Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood in the past without any consequences.
“By redirecting Medicaid funding to the thousands of alternative women’s health providers, taxpayer funding will instead go to providers who offer real health care, not the nation’s largest abortion chain,” the think tank concluded.
Some Planned Parenthood affiliates have chosen to stop killing innocent preborn babies in the womb, at least temporarily, due to the law.
Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin said it will temporarily pause the killing of preborn babies due to the provision in the One Big Beautiful Bill President Trump signed this summer.
“Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin will continue to provide the full spectrum of reproductive health care – including abortion – as soon as we are able to,” the abortion giant’s Wisconsin affiliate said, as reported by LifeSiteNews. “In the meantime, we are pursuing every available option – through the courts, through operations, and civic engagement.”
On the other hand, Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio (PPGOH) announced it will be laying off workers due to a projected $10 million loss in federal funding because of the budget measure.
“Seven months into the Trump administration, unrelenting attacks on Planned Parenthood, including deep cuts to our funding, have forced us to make significant changes to ensure we can continue to keep our doors open and serve the patients who rely on us,” PPGOH President and CEO Erica Wilson-Domer stated in August.
“The loss of Title X and Medicaid funding represents a loss of $10 million annually to PPGOH. Without a reduction in force, PPGOH could cease to exist, leaving over 50,000 patients without access to birth control, gender affirming care, abortion, and a myriad of other essential health care services,” Domer said, as LifeSiteNews previously reported.
However, even states that generally prohibit abortions are still giving millions of dollars to Planned Parenthood, according to an American Life League (ALL) report.
“ALL found that the average income of the 41 Planned Parenthood affiliates in pro-abortion states is $43,389,872,” the report stated. “However, 11 Planned Parenthood affiliates in ‘pro-life’ states saw an average affiliate income of $41,208,358. Clearly there is not much difference in Planned Parenthood’s affiliate income in states with more abortion restrictions than those in states with little-to-no abortion restrictions.”
The group views the phrase “pro-life states” skeptically, since it points out that even states with some restrictions have exceptions for abortion.
Pro-lifers, however, stress that every preborn baby is deserving of protection no matter the circumstances of his conception. Direct abortion is also never medically necessary, as medical experts have affirmed.