Donations to Planned Parenthood have surged in the week since Donald Trump was elected president, just as Republicans have begun plotting for ways to defund the group in 2017, when they’ll control both Congress and the White House.
Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards said Tuesday her group has received more than 160,000 donations over the past few days in an “unprecedented” surge of support.
“The truth is that the majority of Americans, including Trump’s own voters, support access to health care at Planned Parenthood and do not want to see women lose access to safe, legal abortion,” Richards said in a statement. “We will never back down, and we will never stop providing the care our patients need. These doors stay open, no matter what.”
Those private dollars may soon become even more valuable to Planned Parenthood, if Trump and Republicans follow through on their promises to defund the women’s health and abortion provider.
At stake is about $390 million the federal government pays annually to Planned Parenthood clinics around the country, mainly for providing non-abortion services including birth control and testing for sexually transmitted diseases to low income Medicaid patients.
That total comprises about 30 percent of Planned Parenthood’s total revenue, which also comes from state Medicaid funds, federal Title X family planning funds, service fees and private donations.
Should Congress succeed in stripping Planned Parenthood of federal Medicaid dollars, it would be a big blow to the organization, which operates many of its 660 clinics in medically underserved areas where most of its patients have Medicaid coverage.
“Probably some clinics would just close,” said Priscilla Smith, an associate research school at Yale Law School and former attorney for the Center for Productive Rights. “Other places will stay open because they’ll find some person to fund them.”
Congress already has a blueprint for stripping federal Medicaid dollars from Planned Parenthood once Trump is sworn in next year. In a bill last year repealing big parts of the Affordable Care Act, Republicans attached a provision that effectively blocked Planned Parenthood from getting the funding without explicitly naming the group.
Now that Trump has said he wants to both repeal Obamacare and defund Planned Parenthood, there’s a good chance Republicans will pass the measure again. And social conservatives are sure to pressure them to keep in the Planned Parenthood defunding, especially since Republicans spent much of last year trying to strip it of taxpayer funds.
“My sense is there would be no reason for them not to, because that is something that unifies a vast majority of the conference,” said conservative healthcare expert and former Hill staffer Chris Jacobs.
Including Planned Parenthood defunding in an Obamacare repeal bill could cost Republicans a vote or two in the Senate. Both Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Mark Kirk of Illinois bucked their party last year when it passed the repeal bill, over objections to including the Planned Parenthood part.
Kirk lost his Senate seat this year, and a spokeswoman for Collins wouldn’t say whether her boss would vote for a repeal bill with Planned Parenthood defunding. “It’s far too early to tell what provisions would be in any potential legislation related to the Affordable Care Act,” the spokeswoman said.
Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski is also a Republican who generally supports abortion rights, although she voted for last year’s repeal bill. Yet Republicans would be able to lose one or two votes — depending on the outcome of Louisiana’s Senate race next month — and still be able to pass the bill, potentially with a deciding vote by Vice President-elect Mike Pence.
Despite broad support among Republicans for withholding Medicaid reimbursements from Planned Parenthood, that effort is tied up in discussions over repealing Obamacare. To get either priority passed, Congress has to use budget reconciliation rules so it needs only a simple majority in the Senate — otherwise, a 60-vote majority is needed, which isn’t there for the GOP.
Conservatives are privately worried that if Congress revamps the reconciliation bill from the one it used last year, the Planned Parenthood defunding language might get stripped out and lose its chance at becoming law.
Susan B. Anthony List, a prominent anti-abortion group, emailed Republican lawmakers and staff on Tuesday, urging them to use last year’s reconciliation bill, which contains the language.
“We need to deliver an immediate victory for the unborn and the pro-life grassroots, and defunding abortion businesses such as Planned Parenthood of their Medicaid funding … through reconciliation is our best bet,” wrote Eric Schmitz, SBA List’s legislative director.
David Christensen, a lobbyist for the Family Research Council, said it would be a “huge disappointment” to abortion foes should Congress not seize the opportunity to defund Planned Parenthood — a goal of many ever since undercover videos from activist David Daleiden showed its participation in providing aborted fetal tissue to biomedical companies.
“For Congress not to try to defund Planned Parenthood through reconciliation when they’ve already successfully passed it would be snatching defeat from the jaws of victory,” Christensen said.
Google searches including both the words “Trump” and “Planned Parenthood” have skyrocketed since he won the election. And there’s a sense of urgency among supporters of abortion rights, who have been submitting their donations to Planned Parenthood and other women rights groups in the name of Trump and Pence.
Celebrities including Katy Perry, Amber Rose Taymblyn, Bethany Cosentino and Jaime King have asked their social media followers to donate $100 to Planned Parenthood. Comedian Jon Oliver has asked viewers to give generously to liberal groups including Planned Parenthood, as a way of standing against some of the viewpoints expressed by the Trump.
Meanwhile, conservative groups have been using their online channels to warn Planned Parenthood that it’s headed for trouble. “Planned Parenthood is about to learn what it means to fight for your life,” SBA List tweeted last week.
“Planned Parenthood Braces for Cut-astrophe,” the Family Research Council wrote Tuesday in the subject line of an email to supporters.
