Dear Majority Leader Thune, Leader Schumer, Speaker Johnson, and Leader Jeffries,

On behalf of the 82 organizations below, we are writing to urge you to oppose any effort to “defund” Planned Parenthood through the reconciliation process. Planned Parenthood is an integral and irreplaceable part of the health care system. We write in support of the millions of patients who rely on Planned Parenthood health centers. One in four people – including one in three women – have visited a Planned Parenthood health center for care.

Planned Parenthood provides over 2 million patients a year with essential, preventive reproductive health care, like birth control, cancer screenings, wellness exams, STI testing and treatment, and more. Planned Parenthood health centers primarily serve women, people with low incomes, Black, Latino, and Indigenous communities, LGBTQI+ people, and others who face barriers to accessing care. The majority of Planned Parenthood patients rely on Medicaid and other federal and state programs to access care, and 64% of Planned Parenthood health centers are located in rural or medically underserved communities. “Defunding” Planned Parenthood would block these patients from getting the care they need.

The consequences of “defunding” Planned Parenthood would be catastrophic, shutting down health centers and stripping millions of patients across the country of access to essential and affordable health care. In many communities, Planned Parenthood health centers are the only affordable provider with expertise in sexual and reproductive health. For those communities, the gap left by Planned Parenthood health centers would mean that many patients would have nowhere to turn for care.

This is the latest in the ongoing, politically motivated attacks against Planned Parenthood. Like any other health care provider, Planned Parenthood health centers are reimbursed through health programs like Medicaid for the services provided to patients. Even though Medicaid funds are not used for abortion other than in rare exceptions, Medicaid funding is being used to target Planned Parenthood health centers and cut off access to health care. Blocking people who rely on Medicaid from getting care at these trusted health centers would hurt patients and weaken the health care system to further an extreme agenda.

We support the essential care that Planned Parenthood health centers provide in communities across the country, and urge you to reject any efforts to “defund” Planned Parenthood.

Find the full letter here.