April 24, 2025
WASHINGTON (AP) — Major pro-life groups were gathering in the nation's capital on Thursday to begin a lobbying effort with Congress and President Donald Trump's administration aimed at eliminating funding for Planned Parenthood ahead of the Supreme Court hearing a case in April that could strip the abortion provider's funding in South Carolina.
The pro-life groups are taking aim at abortion providers under an initiative called Defund Planned Parenthood, which targets federal Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood.
“This event begins an intensive round of outreach to the GOP, calling on them to take advantage of this unique moment to defund the abortion industry,” Students for Life, the national pro-life group organizing the event, said in a statement.
The Supreme Court announced it would hear a case involving South Carolina's attempt to strip Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood. Experts say the lawsuit could prompt similar efforts in conservative states across the country.
Almost 100 conservative members of Congress signed an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to side with South Carolina. The state already bans abortion after six weeks of pregnancy.
In February, a panel of judges in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court ruling that attempted to force Planned Parenthood to repay millions of dollars of Medicaid funding in Texas and Louisiana.
Meanwhile, lawmakers in at least three states — Missouri, Ohio, and South Carolina — have introduced bills this year aiming to create tax breaks for crisis pregnancy centers.
Trump reinstated a policy that requires foreign nongovernmental agencies to certify that they don’t provide or promote abortion if they receive U.S. aid for family planning assistance. He also pardoned several pro-life activists convicted of blockading abortion clinics and used wording related to fetal personhood in an executive order rolling back protections for people who identify as transgender.
