Liberals have a new argument for keeping federal money flowing to Planned Parenthood: defunding the organization would cost taxpayers more.
Democrats and abortion advocates are framing the defunding of one of the largest abortion providers in the country as a financial “cost” to taxpaying Americans. Citing estimates from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), they are voicing concern that the GOP’s plan to block Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood through the GOP reconciliation bill would increase the national deficit by $300 million due to more babies being born.
“About three in four people say they oppose defunding Planned Parenthood health centers. But Republicans do not care — they need to appease their far-right, anti-choice fringe,” Democratic Washington Sen. Patty Murray said on May 14 about the CBO’s estimates. “Although the irony is, in this case, defunding Planned Parenthood would actually cost our country more money in the long term.”
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Murray’s office did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
Planned Parenthood performed over 400,000 abortions in fiscal year 2023-24 and received more than $700 million in government reimbursements and grants, according to its latest annual report. In contrast, private contributions dropped 31% relative to the previous fiscal year, totaling $684.1 million.
The CBO declined to clarify how the deficit would increase due to the federal cuts in response to a DCNF inquiry.
However, the CBO stated in 2015 that a House bill to block federal funding to Planned Parenthood would increase spending by $130 million over the course of a decade. The reason, CBO explained, was that the bill would reduce “services that help women avert pregnancies” and that “additional births that would result from enacting such a bill would add to federal spending for Medicaid.”
“Nearly 200 Planned Parenthood health centers could be forced to shutter, and more than 1.1 million patients could lose access to care. Cancers will go undetected, STIs will go untreated, and birth control will be harder to get,” said Planned Parenthood CEO Alexis McGill Johnson in a statement on the House’s Thursday vote to advance the reconciliation bill. She equated the CBO’s estimates of the deficit impact to “charging the taxpayers nearly $300 million.”
On the other side of the issue, pro-life advocates reject the premise of the estimates.
“While the Congressional Budget Office has yet to provide a full breakdown of its estimate, it appears the analysis includes the costs of supporting children born due to this provision but falls short and overlooks the long-term economic contributions these individuals will make — as workers, taxpayers and contributors to Social Security — in adulthood. Not to mention the benefit each person brings as a valued member of their family, their community and this country,” Emily Erin Davis, vice president of communications for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, told the DCNF. “It’s especially surprising to see Democrats raise cost as a concern, given their longstanding record of opposing efforts to reduce federal spending.”
Some fiscal hawks in the GOP are also skeptical about the CBO estimate. Republican South Carolina Rep. Ralph Norman recently told NOTUS he “doesn’t believe” the agency’s projection, while Republican Texas Rep. Chip Roy said the deficit should be reduced in other ways.
Whether the provision in the GOP megabill survives the Senate remains uncertain, as some moderate Republicans have expressed reservations. For instance, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska recently told NOTUS she will “continue to be an advocate for the services that Planned Parenthood provides.”
Early this month, 183 pro-life state legislators from across the country sent a letter urging congressional GOP leadership to include the provision in the final reconciliation package.
LifeNews Note: Melissa O’Rourke writes for Daily Caller. Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience.
