NASHVILLE (BP) — More than 20 states sued the Trump administration on July 29 to overturn the president’s effort to defund Planned Parenthood. The organization is the nation’s largest recipient of Medicaid payments.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta called the move to block Medicaid payments an attack against women’s health care.
“This attack isn’t just about abortion,” he said in a news conference. “It’s about denying vulnerable communities access to care they rely on every day.”
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson Andrew G. Nixon pushed back on Bonta’s comments.
“States should not be forced to fund organizations that have chosen political advocacy over patient care,” he said in an email to the Associated Press. “It is a shame that these Democrat attorney generals seek to undermine state flexibility and disregard longstanding concerns about accountability.”
The suit comes a day after a federal judge blocked the government from cutting Medicaid payments to Planned Parenthood. The move was included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed by Congress in early July and signed by President Trump on July 4.
“Patients are likely to suffer adverse health consequences where care is disrupted or unavailable,” U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani wrote in her order. “In particular, restricting Members’ ability to provide healthcare services threatens an increase in unintended pregnancies and attendant complications because of reduced access to effective contraceptives, and an increase in undiagnosed and untreated STIs.”
Still, Southern Baptist ethics leader Miles Mullin says the judge’s ruling flies in the face of many Americans.
“This order stands against the will of taxpayers who do not want to fund abortion. Americans deserve a healthcare system that prioritizes life-affirming care and ensures that all women are served by providers who help them deliver healthy babies, not those who profit from abortion,” Mullin, Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) chief of staff, told Baptist Press in written comments.
“Expanding this injunction puts more preborn lives on the line as it continues to put money in the coffers of Planned Parenthood, the biggest promoter of abortion in America,” he said.
In June, the Supreme Court sided with the state of South Carolina in the case of Medina vs. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, which ruled that the state did not have to direct funds to the organization.
While Planned Parenthood provides several medical services to women, Tony Beam, a South Carolina pro-life public policy leader, believes their primary focus is abortion.
“According to the latest numbers provided by Planned Parenthood, they performed over 402,000 abortions between October 2022 and September 2023. That number represents 35% of all abortions during that period,” Beam, policy consultant for the Baptist Convention of South Carolina, told Baptist Press.
He says the number represents an increase of around 10,000 abortions performed by Planned Parenthood from the previous year.
“They employ powerful and influential lobbyists who push lawmakers to expand abortion access,” Beam said, “They support activists’ efforts for expanded abortion laws in states that place those laws on the ballot, and they work against ballot initiatives that would protect life.”
In June, ERLC President Brent Leatherwood said, “Establishing a true culture of life begins with stopping our taxpayer money from funding Planned Parenthood.”
Mullin says they hope the legal challenges will be overcome soon and the legislation can restrict Medicaid dollars from flowing to Planned Parenthood.
“We are hopeful that this decision will be appealed quickly and overturned. We urge lawmakers and courts to pursue reforms that disentangle taxpayer funding from the abortion industry and promote genuine alternatives that honor the dignity of every human life,” he told Baptist Press.
Beam agrees and encourages Southern Baptists to keep the issue on the front burner. “There is an old saying that still rings true. Lawmakers rarely see the light until they feel the heat,” he said. “Southern Baptists should build relationships with their lawmakers by staying in touch with them so they can respectfully and passionately share why life is precious and why life in the womb should be protected by law.”
(EDITOR’S NOTE — Brandon Porter serves as vice president for communications at the SBC Executive Committee.)
