Congressional GOP Must Defund Planned Parenthood — Again

Fresh off a big victory with the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) on July 4, congressional Republicans are eyeing another chance to pass additional budget priorities in a second reconciliation package.

While negotiations over a second reconciliation package are ongoing, conservatives and pro-life supporters must make it clear: congressional Republicans should commit now to defunding Planned Parenthood for at least one more year.

The OBBB accomplished a historic win for pro-life supporters, defunding any 501(c)(3) organization that “is primarily engaged in family planning services, reproductive health, and related medical care,” “provides for abortions,” and exceeded $800,000 in Medicaid dollars in 2023 of taxpayer funding. This provision applies primarily to Planned Parenthood and its affiliate organizations.

The defunding provision lasts for one year beginning on the date of the OBBB’s enactment.

Abortion Group Turns to Courts

But Planned Parenthood, sensing it had finally met its match, ran to the place the left always goes to accomplish what it fails to win through the democratic process: the courts.

On July 7, Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, where 11 of the 11 active federal judges were appointed by Democrat presidents.

Absurdly, Planned Parenthood contended it has a constitutional right to Americans’ hard-earned taxpayer dollars. Of course it doesn’t. Under Article 1, Section 9, of the U.S. Constitution, Congress has the “power of the purse.” It can fund, or not fund, whatever it so chooses for whatever reason.

But within hours, Judge Indira Talwani, a nominee of former President Barack Obama, sided with Planned Parenthood without even hearing a response from the other side. She granted the abortion giant’s request for a temporary restraining order, requiring the Trump administration to keep taxpayer dollars flowing to Planned Parenthood.

Since then, additional legal proceedings in the district court have played out in the same fashion, with Judge Talwani overriding the American people, their elected representatives in Congress, and a duly elected president.

Thankfully, the Trump administration promptly appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. But as the saying goes, the new boss is the same as the old boss. On the First Circuit, five of the five active federal judges were appointed by Democrat presidents.

On Aug. 19, the First Circuit sided with Planned Parenthood in its quest to overturn the will of the American people and Congress’s decision to defund the organization.

In Planned Parenthood Federation of America v. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the First Circuit denied the government’s motion for a stay pending appeal (a request the court set aside Judge Talwani’s mandate while the lawsuit plays out), allowing Judge Talwani time to consider the government’s separate motion for a stay in the district court.

Three of the circuit judges, all nominees of former President Joe Biden, denied the motion “without prejudice,” and said the Trump administration could again seek relief from the First Circuit if Judge Talwani’s denies its motion for a stay.

Where’s this leave us? With Planned Parenthood claiming victory — again.

In a statement on Aug. 19, Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood, said, “The 1st Circuit made it clear: Patients and entire communities across the country will be harmed if this ‘defund’ provision is allowed to take effect.”

“We know the fight isn’t over, and we are prepared to see it through,” she added.

Of course they are. For the abortion giant, much is on the line — especially its bottom line.

Planned Parenthood Should Lose $800 Million in Taxpayer Money

According to Planned Parenthood’s most recent annual report, the abortion mill made $27.4 million in profit in 2024. Combined with its 2023 profit, Planned Parenthood has earned a staggering $206 million in profit in the last two years alone.

The defunding provision was set to cost Planned Parenthood roughly $800 million in taxpayer dollars.

Planned Parenthood’s goal in this legal drama is simple: delay, defer, and run out the clock. Since the defunding provision is only good for one year, the abortion giant is hoping that it can stall long enough so it never takes effect.

Congress Must Respond

Should Judge Talwani and the First Circuit continue to rule the provision is somehow unconstitutional, the Trump administration must quickly appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Congressional Republicans must also respond to this legal chicanery. If Congress fails to directly address Judge Talwani’s provocation, it will have willfully ceded its constitutionally prescribed power of the purse to an unelected, unaccountable, leftist lawyer in Massachusetts.

Congress should respond in two ways.

First, it should immediately initiate impeachment proceedings against Judge Talwani. In Federalist No. 78, Alexander Hamilton argued the judiciary would be the “least dangerous” of the three branches of government because it “has no influence over either the sword or the purse.”

But Judge Talwani missed this memo and decided to spend $800 million Congress explicitly refused to spend.

Second, Congress must defend its constitutionally designated power and show the courts, and Planned Parenthood, it means business. The abortion giant cannot be rewarded for its legal gamesmanship. It must be punished.

That’s why, as Republicans consider what priorities to tackle in a second reconciliation package, defunding Planned Parenthood for at least one more year must be a non-negotiable provision.

Next year is a midterm election year. Some elected representatives may be skittish to engage in a contentious battle to defund Planned Parenthood once again. But a surefire way for the Republican Party to lose the midterms is to disappoint its most loyal base of voters: pro-life supporters.

Gen. Douglas MacArthur said in his 1951 address to Congress, “War’s very object is victory, not prolonged indecision. In war there is no substitute for victory.”

Defunding Planned Parenthood is a battle we must win.

Zachary Mettler works as a staff writer and communications liaison for the Daily Citizen at Focus on the Family. In his role, he writes about current political issues, U.S. history, political philosophy, and culture. Mettler earned his bachelor’s degree from William Jessup University and is an alumnus of the Young Leaders Program at The Heritage Foundation. In addition to the Daily Citizen, his written pieces have appeared in the Daily Wire, the Washington Times, the Washington Examiner, Newsweek, Townhall, the Daily Signal, the Christian Post, Charisma News, and other outlets.