Greg Nash Last year, House and Senate Republicans led by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) delivered a historic victory for women, unborn children and the pro-life movement by successfully defunding Big Abortion.
For the first time, they severed from the abortion industry, led by Planned Parenthood, its largest stream of federal taxpayer dollars through Medicaid. What had seemed nearly impossible became reality — and it had an impact.
Since the start of 2025, 55 Planned Parenthood facilities have closed their doors. As their largest stream of taxpayer funding dried up, the failing infrastructure of Planned Parenthood facilities across the country could not compete with legitimate health care providers. Even facilities in states like California, New York, Vermont and Pennsylvania, where late-term abortions are fully legal, have shut down operations.
But the abortion industry is still fighting back. According to the Charlotte Lozier Institute, at least 11 blue states increased their own funding for Planned Parenthood after last year’s defunding victory.
And now, the progress we have made risks being undone. July 4, a day centered on the self-evident truth that all men are created equal and endowed with an unalienable right to life, saw the expiration of the defunding provision from the 2025 working families tax cuts. This means our federal dollars will once again flow to abortion businesses that profit from ending nearly half a million unborn lives each year.
Congress must act quickly with a third reconciliation bill — the only viable legislative path forward. Although the margins will be tight for passing a reconciliation 3.0 bill, Republicans must do everything within their power to restore this critical defunding measure without delay.
According to Planned Parenthood’s own most recent annual report, the organization performed a record 434,450 abortions in a single year. When pregnant women walk into Planned Parenthood facilities, they receive abortions 97 percent of the time.
Actual health services at Planned Parenthood are way down. Breast exams and prenatal services have plummeted more than 50 percent. Cancer screenings are down 43 percent and contraception services have dropped by 23 percent.
The services still being provided are not good. Even left-leaning media outlets have reported horror stories from inside Planned Parenthood facilities: a stillbirth after an IUD was placed during pregnancy, biohazards and raw sewage left festering for days in a Nebraska clinic, botched HIV and syphilis tests, and tragic deaths.
In Colorado last year, an 18-year-old girl died following a late-term abortion at a Planned Parenthood facility. According to her family, staff waited too long to call for help and specifically requested no sirens on the ambulance.
Women and girls deserve better. They are far better served by real care at community health centers, which outnumber Planned Parenthood facilities 15 to one. These centers provide more comprehensive, better quality care, and they aren’t propping up woke pro-abortion Democrats running for office.
Defunding the abortion industry isn’t just the right thing to do — it is also politically prudent in a midterm election year. According to a Cygnal poll, 75 percent of Republican primary voters support defunding Planned Parenthood. Another survey showed that one-third of Republican voters would be less enthusiastic about voting in November if Republican leaders abandon pro-life priorities. Pro-life voters are closely watching whether Republicans renew defunding.
Our organization will spend $160 million in the 2026 and 2028 election cycles to support candidates who will advance pro-life policies at the national level. As the largest pro-life field operation in the country, our teams are on the ground, talking to voters every day in Georgia, Ohio, Iowa, Michigan, North Carolina, Texas, and beyond. Republicans in Congress must meet this energy by delivering results that energize the base.
This 250th anniversary of American independence is a good time to reaffirm the right to life that defines us. Republicans should not be let taxpayers keep subsidizing an organization that ends unborn lives, harms women, and funnels resources into defeating them in elections.
Kelsey Pritchard is communications director of SBA Pro-Life America.
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