SALEM, Oregon – In its Monday lawsuit against the Trump administration, Planned Parenthood claims that the federal defunding of its organization via the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” signed into law July 4, will deprive patients (particularly low-income individuals dependent on Medicaid) of critical health care.
The Lund Report, an Oregon and Washington-based health care news outlet, repeated the abortion business’ assertions in a Thursday article under the headline: “Trump funding ban of Planned Parenthood threatens thousands of patients in Oregon.”
But the arguments are highly misleading.
“The claims made by Planned Parenthood – and repeated by The Lund Report – frame Planned Parenthood as an altruistic organization seeking only to provide life-saving care to underserved communities. This is manifestly untrue,” Oregon Right to Life Executive Director Lois Anderson said. “The data show that Planned Parenthood is first and foremost an abortion business, performing many thousands of abortions in Oregon – and hundreds of thousands nationally – every single year. The small number of non-abortion services its facilities provide are readily available – including to low-income people using the Oregon Health Plan – at health centers, clinics, and hospitals statewide.”
Oregon Right to Life addresses the primary claims made in The Lund Report article below:
Claim #1: The Trump Funding Ban Will Prevent Thousands From Receiving ‘Life-Saving and Preventative Health Care’:
This is untrue. Planned Parenthood affiliates are not the only or even primary resources for critical health care. Abortion (the deliberate killing of an unborn human being) is never medically necessary, and low-income Oregonians can access truly life-saving care – like breast and cervical cancer screening and STI testing – at many locations throughout the state, covered by the Oregon Health Plan. Other non-abortion services provided by Planned Parenthood (like contraception and vasectomies) are neither life-saving nor remotely exclusive to Planned Parenthood facilities.
Claim #2: ‘Abortions Only Account for 10%’ of Planned Parenthood’s Services:
This is misleading. A woman who receives an abortion and also gets an STI exam, contraception, and/or other services will be counted as having received numerous separate services – even though abortion was the primary reason she went to the Planned Parenthood facility, Live Action points out.
Planned Parenthood does not offer mammograms, provides a tiny percentage of the nation’s pap and HPV tests, and routinely performs an outsized percentage of abortions. In 2022-2023, Planned Parenthood facilities performed a record 402,230 abortions, approximately 40% of all abortions nationwide. Abortions make up over 95% of Planned Parenthood’s pregnancy resolution services across the country.
Claim #3: The Trump Administration’s Defunding is Meant to ‘Punish’ Planned Parenthood FacilitiesL
The defunding of Planned Parenthood by the Trump administration is not an arbitrary or mean-spirited effort to “punish” clinics that “serve” low-income individuals reliant on state Medicaid programs. Even if all Planned Parenthood facilities closed their doors, low-income individuals would still have access to critical health care services like cancer screenings at non-Planned Parenthood facilities, which already provide the majority of these services.
Moreover, the move to cut funding to the abortion giant is in line with the sentiments of the majority of Americans. A 2025 poll found that 57% of respondents across political divides disagreed with using taxpayer dollars to finance abortion.
Contrary to the claims of Planned Parenthood (and repeated by The Lund Report), the federal defunding of Planned Parenthood is a major victory, protecting women from poor medical care, honoring taxpayer sentiment, and safeguarding the unborn from the violence of abortion.
A Final Word:
“The false claims made by Planned Parenthood only serve to distract from the real point: That defunding Planned Parenthood is financially appropriate, morally right, and a victory for American taxpayers, moms, families, and unborn babies in Oregon and nationwide,” Anderson said. “The majority of Americans don’t believe their taxpayer dollars should be used to finance abortion. Planned Parenthood does not have a right to their money.”
“With pro-life advocates across the country, Oregon Right to Life celebrates the defunding of Planned Parenthood through the Trump administration’s ‘One Big Beautiful Bill,” Anderson continued. “We also look forward to the defeat of Planned Parenthood’s lawsuit, which is a blatant attempt to continue receiving taxpayer dollars against the will of the American people.”
Oregon Right to Life believes in the sanctity of all human life from the moment of conception to natural death. Abortion ends the life of a genetically distinct, growing human being. We oppose abortion at any point of gestation. In rare cases, a mother may have a life threatening condition in which medical procedures intended to treat the condition of the mother may result in the unintended death of her preborn baby. At the same time, ORTL recognizes that modern medical practice has and will continue to increase the ability to save both the life of the mother and the baby. Read this and all our position statements here.
For a more detailed response to The Lund Report’s article, click here.
