Planned Parenthood's newly released 2023–2024 annual report reveals that the organization facilitated over 402,000 abortions during the year — the highest number in its history — while also receiving a record $800 million in taxpayer funding. The data reignited a familiar but intensifying debate in Washington and across the country about abortion policy and public funding.
The report comes nearly two years after the Supreme Court’s landmark Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade and returned the authority to regulate abortion to individual states. Since then, nearly 20 states have passed varying degrees of abortion restrictions, creating a complex legal patchwork that Planned Parenthood says it has navigated to continue offering services.
Despite the post-Dobbs legal landscape, the organization maintained and even expanded access to abortion, which it framed in the report as a response to the growing number of women traveling across state lines to seek reproductive care. But critics say the numbers underscore a troubling trend.
“For yet another year, pregnant women seeking help at Planned Parenthood are sold an abortion 97% of the time, while prenatal services, miscarriage care and adoption referrals make up a minuscule minority of the options they offer,” said Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America (SBA Pro-Life) in a statement. “This report heightens the urgency to defund Big Abortion and stop forcing taxpayers to fund an industry that destroys unborn lives and preys on women and girls.”
Public Funding, Political Divide
According to the report, Planned Parenthood’s $800 million in public funding — which breaks down to more than $2 million per day — primarily comes in the form of Medicaid reimbursements and federal grants for non-abortion services such as cancer screenings and STI testing. Under the Hyde Amendment, federal funding cannot be used directly for abortions, except in limited cases. However, critics argue that any funding indirectly supports abortion by propping up the organization as a whole.
The issue of funding has once again become a political flashpoint. While many pro-life Republicans are pushing to exclude Planned Parenthood from federal reimbursements altogether, especially as Congress hammers out its budget reconciliation package, a group of moderate House Republicans is balking at the effort.
Representatives Mike Lawler (R-NY), Jen Kiggans (R-VA), and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), who each represent competitive swing districts, expressed opposition to defunding Planned Parenthood during a recent GOP meeting, according to reporting from NOTUS. Their concern appears to lie with the backlash that could result from eliminating funding for non-abortion services that their constituents rely on.
Trump Weighs In
Former President Donald Trump, the GOP’s 2024 nominee and likely frontrunner heading into the 2025 political season, responded cautiously when asked about the intraparty disagreement.
“I don’t know yet. I have to see because you’re just telling me that for the first time,” Trump told National Review’s Audrey Fahlberg in the Oval Office last week. “We’ll work something out.”
Trump’s more moderate tone on abortion during the 2024 campaign — including support for exceptions and leaving most decisions to the states — was seen as a strategic pivot that helped blunt Democratic attacks and ultimately contributed to his victory over then-Vice President Kamala Harris.
Still, groups like SBA Pro-Life are urging congressional Republicans to press ahead with a sweeping bill that would restrict Planned Parenthood’s access to federal funds and further limit abortion access nationwide. The organization has referred to the potential legislation as the “big beautiful bill,” echoing Trumpian rhetoric in a push to solidify conservative priorities in a new post-Dobbs era.
A Divided Nation, A Polarizing Issue
Planned Parenthood, for its part, continues to assert that it provides essential health care services to millions of Americans and that its work has become even more critical as reproductive health access contracts in many states. The organization also continues to advocate for broader access to transgender health care, sexual education, and voting rights — policy positions that opponents have criticized as overtly political.
As the nation navigates a contentious presidential election cycle and state legislatures continue to define their abortion policies, the debate over Planned Parenthood’s role — and its funding — remains at the forefront of America's cultural and political divisions.
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