Anti-abortion groups aim to end Planned Parenthood funding and suggest Musk’s DOGE to get it done

WASHINGTON (AP) — Major anti-abortion groups gathered in the nation’s capital on Thursday to begin a lobbying effort with Congress and President Donald Trump’s administration aimed at eliminating funding for Planned Parenthood, with some calling on Elon Musk to make the organization one of his cost-cutting targets.

The anti-abortion groups are taking aim at abortion providers under an initiative called Defund Planned Parenthood, which targets federal Medicaid funding for the reproductive health care provider. More than 150 of the groups signed a letter Wednesday urging Congress to cut Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood and other health care centers that provide abortions through the budget reconciliation process.

“Today is a historic moment where the pro-life movement stands united behind one message: Defund Planned Parenthood,” said Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life, as she kicked off the rally in view of the U.S. Capitol.

She called on Trump and other Republicans to “defund your political enemies,” adding that the abortion lobby has long targeted Republicans.

The federal Hyde Amendment already restricts government funding for most abortions, and less than 5% of the services Planned Parenthood provides are abortions, according to the organization’s 2023 annual report.

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Vicki Ringer, Planned Parenthood’s South Carolina director of public affairs, said claims that Planned Parenthood uses Medicaid funding for abortion is “an attempt to mislead the public” and emphasized Planned Parenthood’s role in providing broader reproductive health care.

“We should be expanding health care to low-income people rather than trying to kick off these people who rely on us for health care,” Ringer said.

Planned Parenthood provides a wide range of services besides abortion. Its most recent annual report shows that contraceptive services and testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections make up the vast majority of its medical care. It also performs more cancer screening and prevention procedures than abortions, according to the report.

The national group said eliminating its federal funding could put those services out of reach for millions of people and would hit low-income communities with little access to health care hardest.

Rachel Rebouche, dean of Temple University’s Beasley School of Law, said the Defund Planned Parenthood movement has been building for 10 years but has gained momentum as the anti-abortion movement has been emboldened by Trump’s presidential victory and by Republicans winning control of Congress in November.

“We’re seeing more enthusiasm in states like South Carolina and others to close down Planned Parenthood under the banner of stopping abortions, which their laws already do,” she said.

Tina Whittington, executive vice president at Students for Life, said she was confident that Trump would consider cutting Planned Parenthood’s Medicaid funding and that Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency could be just the tool for doing it.

“I’m more confident because we’re in an era where DOGE’s actions are targeting waste, fraud and abuse,” she said. “And this is a great way to do that.”

The Supreme Court announced it will hear a case involving South Carolina’s attempt to strip Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood. Experts say the lawsuit could prompt similar efforts in conservative states across the country to chip away at the organization’s funding.

During a 2015 push to strip Planned Parenthood funding, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that doing so would cost the government $130 million over 10 years.

Meanwhile, lawmakers in at least three states — Missouri, Ohio and South Carolina — have introduced bills this year aiming to create tax breaks for anti-abortion centers.

The strategies come during a time when abortion rights advocates are warning that Trump and his Cabinet hold significant power to restrict access to medication abortion nationwide.

Rather than immediately heeding calls from anti-abortion allies to restrict Medicaid funding for clinics that provide abortions, Trump has made quieter moves after waffling on the issue on the campaign trail.

He reinstated a policy that requires foreign nongovernmental agencies to certify that they don’t provide or promote abortion if they receive U.S. aid for family planning. He also pardoned several anti-abortion activists who had been convicted of blockading abortion clinics and used wording related to fetal personhood in an executive order rolling back protections for transgender people.

The Republican president has appointed abortion opponents to some key Cabinet positions that could affect the availability of medication abortion and contraception, Medicaid coverage for family planning services, collection of abortion-related data and abortion access for troops and veterans. In a pre-recorded message to the thousands who attended the March for Life in January, Trump said he proudly stood for families and for life.

Alabama Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville said during Thursday’s rally that he “truly believes President Trump is the most pro-life president in history.”

“Absolutely zero taxpayer dollars should be going to abortion,” he said. “… And I know President Trump agrees.”

Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of SBA Pro-Life America, said Republican control of the White House and Congress represents a unique opportunity to push for legislation targeting Planned Parenthood.

“I believe this is the moment they will be defunded, and this is the blow that will bring them down,” she said.

Advocates on either side of the abortion debate are waiting to see if Trump’s Department of Justice will revive the Comstock Act, a 19th-century obscenity law, to restrict the mailing of medication abortion or other materials used for abortions. Attorney General Pam Bondi has a history of defending abortion restrictions, and her confirmation was celebrated by abortion opponents.

At the Thursday rally, some passers-by shouted support for Planned Parenthood, saying the organization saves lives.

Haven Wright, an 83-year-old retired entrepreneur visiting Washington to see the National Museum of African American History and Culture, happened upon the rally and noted that Planned Parenthood also provided health care for underserved communities.

“They are the main doctors for many, many poor women,” she said. “They are their main resource for all kinds of reproductive health care.”

Wright said she had two abortions while in her 20s, once while she had an IUD and another time after she was raped. She said she was grateful she had the “agency to get the care I needed.”

“Women,” she said, “deserve a choice.”

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