On a sweltering Thursday morning, a group of anti-abortion leaders huddled close to the House side of the Capitol building. They had gathered outside to rally around defunding Planned Parenthood for a second time, as the organization had regained access to Medicaid reimbursements last week.
Inside the Capitol at the same moment, the House Budget Committee was working to advance a framework for a third reconciliation bill. It did not include language to block federal funding to Planned Parenthood.
This marked the latest disappointment for the anti-abortion community that has heavily aligned with the GOP.
“Of course, we would have liked to have seen Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers defunded in perpetuity or at least in continuity,” Americans United for Life CEO John Mize said. “That did not happen. So the best that we can get from this Congress is the potential through a follow-on reconciliation bill.”
Americans United for Life was part of the coalition of groups that organized the rally, including Live Action, Human Coalition, the American Principles Project, National Right to Life, and Students for Life Action.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which was signed into law in July 2025, stipulated that Planned Parenthood was barred from federal reimbursements for just one year. But with a midterm election fast approaching, Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill and President Donald Trump have been reticent to reignite an abortion debate just before November.
Abortion funding “was brought up early when we had a much more extensive view of what we could get done, but again, every time you introduce something that one group wants more than another, like there is definitely a group of members, more than just every other member, that would prioritize the abortion-related issues,” House Budget Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-TX) told reporters Wednesday.
“We had the time, the luxury of time, in the ‘big, beautiful bill’ to work through that and get at least a partial win for the pro-life movement,” Arrington continued. “I was very happy about that.”
But he was also blunt about what the GOP needs to prioritize if they want to maintain control of the House and Senate next year.
“What is the need right now for the highest order of the federal government’s mission and its security, securing elections, securing the food supply, and supporting our troops for the coming defense,” Arrington said. “That’s it.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has been one of the strongest allies of the anti-abortion movement. And while he gave verbal support to defunding Planned Parenthood, it was unclear when exactly it would happen.
“I come from the pro-life movement,” Johnson told the Washington Examiner on Thursday. “Everybody knows where my resolve is. We’re going to get the job done as soon as we can.”
Yet for some advocates, Johnson’s words may not be enough.
“We’ve had some pro-life champions tell us they’re going to do everything they can to do to get defunding a plan for a big abortion, which is amazing,” said Savanna Deretich, government affairs coordinator for Students for Life Action. “But there has not been a commitment from the entire GOP and from Trump on this issue. If they can give us a commitment, great. We’ll take anything because right now there’s no commitment, and if they can’t do anything before the midterms, that’s very, very sad.”
Advocates also warned that not taking action to limit abortion could further depress allies from voting in November. The second Trump administration has angered anti-abortion groups for not blocking access to the abortion pill mifepristone, which can be ordered via mail. However, a glimmer of hope came this week as acting Attorney General Todd Blanche pledged to do more to limit mifepristone while testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“I very much commit our resources to stopping this,” Blanche told senators.
Republican senators have, in the past, been hesitant to strip Planned Parenthood of federal funding for 10 years, fearing that the Senate parliamentarian would rule that it does not meet the Byrd Rule requirement against superfluous provisions in a budget reconciliation bill. That has not deterred anti-abortion leaders and their allies.
“We cannot allow Americans to foot the bill for an organization whose mission is the destruction of innocent human life,” Rep. Michelle Fischbach (R-MN) said at the rally on Thursday. “It is time for Congress to defund Planned Parenthood and stop this funding for good. No more temporary fixes or expiration dates, and no more taxpayer-funded abortions.”
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“Let me just say up front to you today: protecting life should never have an expiration date,” Rep. Mark Harris (R-NC) added, before joining his colleagues inside the Capitol building.
“Even as we are out here speaking this morning, the House Budget Committee is taking the first step toward reconciliation 3.0,” he continued. “I call today that now Congress has both the opportunity and the responsibility to include a long-term restriction on federal funding for Planned Parenthood.”
