Congress Moves Forward With Bill That Could Shut Down Hundreds of Reproductive Health Clinics, Critics Warn
The “Big Beautiful Bill” is expected to cut Medicaid funding, force Planned Parenthood closures, and threaten care for millions—especially low-income patients, people of color, and rural communities.
After Congress passed the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill,” reproductive rights advocates are sounding alarms over what they say is one of the most dangerous attacks on public health in recent memory.
The sweeping legislation, which passed the Senate earlier this week, promises deep cuts to essential social programs like Medicaid and SNAP while offering major tax breaks to billionaires and large corporations. But it’s the bill’s targeted provisions against reproductive health care providers that have drawn the sharpest criticism.
One provision in the bill would block federal Medicaid funding from going to clinics that offer abortion services. According to the Center for Reproductive Rights, this measure alone could shutter up to 200 Planned Parenthood clinics across the country, with nearly 90 percent of those closures expected in blue states. Other providers, like Maine Family Planning—which operates 18 clinics, many in rural areas with no other health care options—would also lose critical funding.
Brittany Fonteno, President and CEO of the National Abortion Federation, described the legislation as both cruel and wildly irresponsible. To her, the bill represents yet another tactic from the Trump administration and its allies to advance a political agenda at the expense of low-income patients, people of color, and rural communities. The cuts would jeopardize access to basic health services like cancer screenings, STI testing, and contraception—lifesaving care that millions depend on.
Planned Parenthood Action Fund has called the legislation a “backdoor abortion ban.” In a public statement, the organization warned that the bill would strip health care from millions of Americans and could lead to the closure of one in four abortion providers nationwide. Alexis McGill Johnson, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said the damage would be immediate and widespread, and that community health centers would not be able to fill the gap left by Planned Parenthood’s forced closures.
Meanwhile, the legislation also slashes funding for SNAP, the federal food assistance program, while dramatically increasing tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans. Critics argue that Congress is prioritizing the needs of billionaires and corporations over the health and survival of everyday people. SisterSong, a leading reproductive justice organization, called the bill one of the most blatant betrayals of public trust in modern history. They emphasized that for millions of people, especially those in marginalized communities, Medicaid is not just insurance—it is a lifeline.
Reproductive justice advocates have stressed that the fight is far from over. For them, the battle is not simply about preserving the right to abortion—it is about ensuring that people have the resources, support, and safe communities necessary to make and carry out their own reproductive decisions. Without reliable access to health care, those rights become meaningless.
Despite the mounting challenges, Fonteno and others have vowed to continue fighting.
“We will not back down,” she said, reaffirming the National Abortion Federation’s commitment to protecting equitable access to care, regardless of political attacks.
As the bill moves to the President’s desk, advocates across the country are urging swift public resistance. They see this as more than just a policy debate—it is a life-and-death moment that will determine whether millions of people will continue to have access to the care they need.
For now, reproductive justice leaders are bracing for what comes next, even as they continue to organize for a more just and equitable health care system that serves everyone, not just the privileged few.