Medicaid plays a vital role in access to family planning and should be protected and expanded, not restricted. The Society is alarmed that H.R. 1 – the federal reconciliation bill – threatens to destabilize our country’s public health infrastructure, including by excluding healthcare providers from participating in Medicaid because they provide abortion care. This legislation is under consideration on the heels of the US Supreme Court’s decision in Medina v Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, which allowed for ongoing political interference in South Carolinians’ ability to access care from comprehensive reproductive healthcare providers.

Research has documented that excluding qualified family planning providers from publicly funded programs places untenable strain on an already overburdened safety net system. The Society joined the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and other partner organizations in submitting an amicus brief in the Medina case, reinforcing that Medicaid beneficiaries must be able to receive care from qualified providers of their choosing without political interference and that restricting access disproportionately harms those already facing barriers to sexual and reproductive care. The Society has also sounded the alarm about recent actions to deny funding to vital Title X providers. We remain steadfast in our commitment to advocating for every person’s ability to access comprehensive family planning services.