A familiar flashpoint in America’s culture wars is once again simmering on Capitol Hill, as Republican lawmakers consider including a proposal to defund Planned Parenthood in this year’s budget reconciliation package. The move, long sought by anti-abortion activists, would bar the organization from receiving Medicaid reimbursements for its non-abortion services—a significant funding stream for the nation’s largest women’s health provider.
However, internal GOP divisions are threatening to complicate the effort. Several centrist House Republicans have reportedly voiced opposition to the measure behind closed doors, concerned about both the political optics and the policy implications of cutting off access to reproductive and preventive care for millions of low-income women. Their resistance could jeopardize the GOP’s ability to pass a unified budget package through reconciliation, a process that requires near-total party unity in both chambers.
President Donald Trump, whose influence over the party remains strong heading into the 2026 midterm cycle, has yet to take a clear position. Asked on Wednesday whether he supported the proposal in the face of moderate GOP concerns, Trump appeared noncommittal. “I don’t know yet. I have to see because you’re just telling me that for the first time,” he told reporters in the Oval Office. “We’ll work something out.”
The legislative push is tied to broader GOP efforts to offset the cost of extending key provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which are set to expire at the end of 2025. With mounting pressure to identify spending offsets, some lawmakers are eyeing cuts to federal funding streams for organizations that also provide abortion services—despite federal law already prohibiting taxpayer funding of abortion in most cases under the Hyde Amendment.
Pro-life advocacy groups have ramped up lobbying efforts in recent weeks, urging Republican leadership to follow through on campaign promises to defund Planned Parenthood. These groups argue that Medicaid reimbursements, though not used for abortion procedures themselves, help subsidize the organization’s overall operations—including overhead costs that support abortion services.
“Taxpayer money is fungible,” said one senior official with a leading pro-life group. “If Planned Parenthood is receiving hundreds of millions in government reimbursements, that frees up resources elsewhere in their budget for abortion. It’s time to draw a hard line.”
But translating that sentiment into viable legislation presents significant hurdles. Under the Senate’s Byrd Rule, provisions included in a reconciliation package must have a direct impact on federal spending or revenue. Sweeping policy changes—especially those targeting Medicaid—risk being ruled out of order and stripped from the bill.
In the House, the political calculus is equally fraught. According to NOTUS, several moderate Republicans expressed discomfort with the proposed defunding during a private meeting with GOP leaders this week, warning that the move could alienate suburban and swing-district voters who value access to family planning services. Their opposition adds a layer of tension to an already delicate intraparty negotiation.
Still, not all GOP centrists are opposed. Representative Don Bacon (R-Neb.), who represents a district carried by Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024, voiced support for the defunding measure on Wednesday.
“I don’t like giving taxpayer money to organizations that do abortions,” Bacon said. “Planned Parenthood is a massive abortion provider. They also are very political, so giving them taxpayer money and then they turn around and attack us.”
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