Planned Parenthood defunding can stay in budget bill, Senate parliamentarian rules

The Senate Parliamentarian ruled on Monday afternoon that the provision prohibiting Medicaid funds from being used to reimburse health clinics that provide abortions can stay in the GOP’s budget reconciliation package.

Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough approved a similar provision in the GOP healthcare reform package in 2017, but this provision in President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act is the closest that anti-abortion advocates have come to accomplishing one of their primary objectives of defunding the nation’s largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood.