House Speaker Mike Johnson says Republicans discussing using the federal budget to redirect 'big abortion' funds to pro-life centers
(LifeSiteNews) — House Speaker Mike Johnson indicated earlier this week that Republicans are considering cutting funds for abortion giants and redirecting them toward pro-life centers as part of the House budget blueprint.
Johnson indicated briefly on April 29 that the reconciliation process for the latest budget blueprint has included discussion on slashing federal funding for major abortion organizations and reallocating those funds toward pro-life organizations, per OSV News. Multiple congressional Republicans have signaled support for defunding Planned Parenthood and banning abortion funding since Trump won the 2024 election.
"(The budget) could be used as a vehicle to redirect funds away from big abortion and to federally qualified health centers," the speaker said.
While Johnson did not mention Planned Parenthood specifically, Republican Kentucky Rep. Brett Guthrie told Fox News Digital on May 1 that House Republicans have discussed cutting federal funding for Planned Parenthood.
"We are working on a lot of different options, but that's been discussed," Guthrie said.
Planned Parenthood’s most recent annual report revealed that its affiliates across the nation took in $699.3 million in government “health services” reimbursements and grants, accounting for 39 percent of its total revenue during that period. At the same time, the abortion chain committed 392,715 abortions – yet procedures such as pap tests and cancer screenings continued to decline as percentages of its overall business.
Groups including Students for Life Action have called on Trump to “debar and defund” Planned Parenthood even before he returned to office, laying out a variety of reasons they could be removed from eligibility to receive government funding.
Johnson also previously expressed his support for defunding Planned Parenthood. Last year, asked by Fox News host Martha MacCallum if he planned to defund the organization, he said, “I would like to. That’s for sure," adding, “We have got to build consensus to have the votes to do that.”
READ: Speaker Johnson says he supports defunding Planned Parenthood: 'I would like to'
Within weeks of returning to office, Trump reinstated the Hyde Amendment as well as the Mexico City Policy, which forbids non-governmental organizations from using taxpayer dollars for elective abortions abroad. The Trump Administration also canceled millions of pro-abortion subsidies by freezing U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) spending. However, as executive actions, such moves only last as long as a like-minded president occupies the White House and may be unilaterally reversed by the next Democratic president.
Meanwhile, congressional Republicans have introduced legislation to defund the abortion giant. In February, Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey and Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker introduced a bill to permanently ban federal abortion funding.
Later that month, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul introduced complementary legislation to permanently defund Planned Parenthood.
READ: 2 House Republicans introduce bill to permanently ban federal abortion funding
