Defund Planned Parenthood now

Despite the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision that returned the issue of abortion to the states, the number of abortions is steadily on the increase in our country. According to the pro-abortion research and policy advocate, the Guttmacher Institute, there were 1,038,100 clinician-provided abortions provided in the United States in 2024, the highest number in over 10 years.  

The Catholic Church is unequivocal in its condemnation of abortion as a grave moral evil: “Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 2271). The Church has consistently spoken out against abortion as a grave evil because it violates the dignity of the human person and sacredness of human life present from the moment of conception. This dignity and sacredness flow from the fact that every person is created in the image of God (Gen 1:26-27), redeemed by Jesus Christ (Eph 1:10; 1 Tim 2:4-6); and meant to share eternal life with God (1 Cor 15:51-57). 

St. John Paul II in his landmark encyclical, Evangelium Vitae, confirmed that the Church’s condemnation of abortion is based upon the natural law and the written Word of God, transmitted by the Church’s Tradition, and infallibly taught by the ordinary and universal magisterium of the Church (EV 62). John Paul emphasized that “God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end: no one can, in any circumstance, claim for himself the right to destroy an innocent human being” (EV 53).  

You do not have to be a Catholic or even a Christian to recognize the evil of abortion. The natural law demands that every person has a duty to preserve human life, with that duty becoming even greater when it comes to one’s own offspring, and modern science points to conception as the logical beginning of a new human being with its own unique genetic code and independent existence, marked only by a continuous unfolding, growth, and development.  

Planned Parenthood is by far the largest provider of abortion in the United States. Planned Parenthood’s most recent annual report—released on Mother’s Day this past May—revealed its abortion centers performed 402,200 abortions from July 2023 through June 2024, an increase of almost 10,000 abortions from the year before and a record high for the abortion giant. That means Planned Parenthood performs around 40% of all abortions in the United States each year.  

Planned Parenthood is all-in when it comes to abortion. Planned Parenthood disclosed in its annual report that it spent $3.4 million covering travel expenses so that women could travel from places where abortion is illegal to places where it is legal. Planned Parenthood further reported it increased its engagement in telehealth services to 42 states, which is increasingly being used to circumvent state laws banning abortion by allowing doctors in more liberal states to guide women in states with more restrictive laws to administer medical abortions on themselves. Planned Parenthood also reported that it has updated its online educational videos instructing women how to use abortion pills available through the mail to perform medical abortions on themselves. Planned Parenthood also reported it has an abortion center locator service and a patient navigation system with agents across the country who assist people seeking abortion with transportation, travel support, financial assistance, and referral services.  

Planned Parenthood rakes in a staggering amount of money every year. In the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023, Planned Parenthood and its affiliates in the U.S. and worldwide reported taking in over $2 billion in revenue and that it has around $2.5 billion in net assets. 

Taxpayers like you and me are footing the bill. According to Planned Parenthood’s most recent annual report, taxpayer funding in the form of government grants, contracts, and Medicaid reimbursements reached a whopping $792.2 million for the year—over $2 million dollars per day—making up nearly 40% of Planned Parenthood’s annual revenue. As my former colleague and pro-life scholar and activist Dr. Michael New puts it, “Big Abortion needs Big Government.” 

But there is an opportunity to end the gravy train. Under Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, Planned Parenthood is banned from receiving federal Medicaid reimbursements for a period of one year, which likely amounts to defunding the abortion behemoth around $700 million in federal tax dollars for the year. This cut in government funding is only for a year, but it is a start. However, Planned Parenthood sued, and a preliminary injunction was granted by the court that requires taxpayer funding to continue. The legal battle is not over, though, as the Trump administration is expected to challenge the injunction, with an appeal to the Supreme Court likely.  

Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), and Bishop Daniel E. Thomas, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Pro-Life Activities, are urging Catholics to join a focused effort of daily prayer to stop taxpayer funding of the abortion industry. The prayer invokes the intercession of Saint Joseph, Defender of Life, began on July 25, and will continue until Oct. 1, the beginning of Respect Life Month. Please join me and other pro-life Catholics across America in praying this prayer daily for the defunding of Planned Parenthood, the protection of unborn children, and the end to abortion: 

Dearest St. Joseph, at the word of an angel, you lovingly took Mary into your home. As God’s humble servant, you guided the Holy Family on the road to Bethlehem, welcomed Jesus as your own son in the shelter of a manger, and fled far from your homeland for the safety of both Mother and Child. We praise God that as their faithful protector, you never hesitated to sacrifice for those entrusted to you. May your example inspire us also to welcome, cherish, and safeguard God’s most precious gift of life. Help us to faithfully commit ourselves to the service and defense of human life —especially where it is vulnerable or threatened. Obtain for us the grace to do the will of God in all things. Amen.