States like Washington, California, New Jersey agreed to backfill funds earlier this year
By Mia Maldonado, Oregon Capital Chronicle
Oregon Democrats have agreed to backfill $7.5 million in lost Planned Parenthood dollars, months after Congress approved a measure blocking access to federal Medicaid funds until at least July 2026.
Democratic leaders announced late last week that the Oregon Legislature’s Joint Emergency Board will allocate the funding to Planned Parenthood at its Nov. 18 meeting. The 20-member board has the authority to allocate funding when the full Legislature isn’t in session.
Oregon’s 12 Planned Parenthood health centers relied on nearly $17 million in annual Medicaid reimbursements in 2024, but a budget law signed by Republican President Donald Trump in July ended those reimbursements for organizations that provide abortions and received Medicaid reimbursements of more than $800,000 in fiscal year 2023. Without the ability to receive reimbursements, many Planned Parenthood health centers across the U.S. have been forced to close or reduce services, including in California, Ohio and Maine.
Planned Parenthood has closed 20 of its clinics in the months since the Trump administration blocked it from billing Medicaid, the Washington Post reported.
Federal law already bans the use of federal Medicaid funding for abortion under a 1977 policy known as the Hyde Amendment. According to Planned Parenthood, 90% of its services in Oregon are unrelated to abortion and make up mostly cancer screenings, birth control and sexually transmitted infection testing. Only in Ontario do abortions make up the majority of an Oregon Planned Parenthood health center’s services, given that it’s the nearest place many Idahoans can legally receive abortion care.
“All people, regardless of income or insurance coverage, deserve the freedom to choose their trusted medical provider and have access to care they can afford,” Christopher Coburn, executive director of Planned Parenthood Action Oregon, said in a statement. “We are ready to work alongside our state leaders to keep care available and will continue to do everything in our power to fight back against the Trump administration.”
Oregon joins states including Washington, California, Colorado, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Maine, New Jersey and New York that have agreed to backfill millions in lost dollars.
In addition to states supporting Planned Parenthood financially, there are at least three federal lawsuits over the provision in the budget law, including a lawsuit where Oregon, alongside 22 other states, is a plaintiff. The law is in effect, and Planned Parenthood clinics as of now cannot receive Medicaid reimbursements.
The emergency board will also discuss a $8.3 million payment to the Oregon Department of Corrections to pay off prisoner health care expenses and a $2.5 million payment to the Oregon Department of Emergency Management to cleanup debris from the Rowena Fire in Wasco County.
Mia Maldonado covers Oregon and state legislature with a focus on social services for Oregon Capital Chronicle. She started her career in journalism with Oregon Capital Chronicle’s sister outlet in Idaho, the Idaho Capital Sun.
