California becomes the fourth state to use public monies to fund Planned Parenthood as federal cuts force clinic closures.
By Catholics for Catholics
The State of California is awarding $140 million to Planned Parenthood so that 109 sites can remain open, counterweighing the cuts imposed by the Trump administration.
Governor Gavin Newsom announced that the move upholds the state’s ongoing pledge to abortion access for women in the Golden State, despite the efforts by President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans to terminate Planned Parenthood, according to a story by Fox News.
“California is a reproductive freedom state, and this latest investment continues to show our belief in protecting access to essential health care in times of distress,” Newsom said in a statement on Thursday. “Trump’s efforts to defund Planned Parenthood put all our communities at risk as people seek basic health care from these community providers.”
When the legislature reconvenes in January, state lawmakers are scheduled to address the matter. Due to the Republican-led cuts, Planned Parenthood had announced it would eliminate primary care at sites in Orange and San Bernardino counties starting in December. Five other clinics in the Bay Area, Santa Cruz and Central Valley, also closed in recent months over federal efforts to defund the organization.
President Donald Trump’s spending bill which he signed during the summer barred Planned Parenthood from getting Medicaid money for its services, including abortions, mammograms, pap smears, birth control and sexually transmitted infection testing. In addition, Republicans in Washington D.C. and across the country have targeted Planned Parenthood over abortion services.
After the 2022 Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe V. Wade and returned the power to make laws regarding abortion back to the states, sites in GOP-led states with abortion restrictions have also been forced to cease the procedures.
Dr. Janet Jacobson, medical director of the Orange and San Bernardino counties clinics, told CalMatters the federal actions are “destroying our primary care program.”
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