Opinion - Congress must defund Planned Parenthood
I am a mother of three, including my son Cole, who was born with Down syndrome. I am also a former congresswoman who served Eastern Washington for 20 years. In these capacities, I have lived the profound joy and responsibility of nurturing life.
When Cole was born, doctors told me his condition might limit him, but his boundless spirit has taught me that every life is a gift brimming with potential. This conviction, rooted in faith and family, drove my work in Congress. It also fuels my call today for Congress to defund Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion provider and the second-largest distributor of transition-inducing cross-sex hormones to children.
Taxpayer dollars should not bankroll an organization that ends lives and pushes harmful, irreversible treatments on vulnerable children who are too young to consent. This is even more true at a time when our nation is grappling with a $36 trillion debt.
Planned Parenthood, shaped by its founder Margaret Sanger's eugenics-driven vision, has long masked its true aims. Sanger, who in 1923 called the poor, disabled, and people of color 'human weeds,' sought to eliminate those she deemed inferior.
Today, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Planned Parenthood Global hide behind the pretext of caring for poor women, but their actions tell a different story. They falsely claim that unless their organization receives Medicaid dollars, women will lose medical care. They also perpetuate the myth that abortion comprises only 3 percent of their services.
In truth, abortion dominates their business model. According to their 2021-2022 annual report, Planned Parenthood for America performed 374,155 abortions — over 1,000 daily —making it the nation's leading abortion provider. Since 1973, Planned Parenthood has ended more than 8 million lives in this manner.
This is not healthcare — it is the systematic termination of human potential on an unimaginable scale.
The harm extends beyond abortion itself. A 2023 study in BMC Psychiatry found that women post-abortion face a 34 percent higher risk of depression and anxiety, with many enduring long-term distress. A 2023 study in Issues in Law & Medicine documented physical complications like infertility and chronic pain. Planned Parenthood dismisses these harms, leaving women to face the consequences alone.
As a mother, I have seen the stark difference between such abandonment and genuine support. My experience with Cole, navigating a world that sometimes undervalues those with disabilities, has shown me the power of choosing life and the need for care that uplifts, not destroys.
Equally alarming is Planned Parenthood's role as the second-largest provider of cross-sex hormones for so-called 'gender-affirming care,' according to a 2023 Senate report by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.). With 41 of 49 affiliates offering puberty blockers, estrogen, and testosterone, their 2021-2022 report noted a 1,400 percent spike in 'Other Procedures' — including gender transition services — from 17,791 to 256,550 in a year.
These treatments, given to children as young as 12, lack long-term safety data, according to a 2022 Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism study, and can cause irreversible damage such as infertility, stunted growth, depression, blood clots, and cancer.
Across Europe, countries such as the United Kingdom, Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Denmark have sharply restricted these treatments for minors, with the U.K. indefinitely limiting puberty blockers to clinical trials in 2024 due to insufficient evidence of safety, and others allowing hormones only in exceptional cases or research settings.
As a mother, I am heartbroken that Planned Parenthood pushes such experimental treatments on vulnerable children, often bypassing parental consent, just as so many nations are pulling back and moving in a better direction.
Fiscally, subsidies to Planned Parenthood are indefensible. In 2021-2022, they received $670.4 million in taxpayer funds, siphoned from such programs as Title X, despite the Hyde Amendment's restrictions on funding abortions. These dollars, as I argued in Congress, free up resources for Planned Parenthood to run its abortion and hormone programs.
Over the last five years, Planned Parenthood's national office funneled $899 million to affiliates for legal battles and political campaigns, including $40 million in 2024 to back pro-abortion Democrats, according to a 2025 New York Times report.
As former chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, I fought to ensure that taxpayer funds were spent responsibly, prioritizing families over ideology. Planned Parenthood's $2 billion in annual revenue is proof that it can survive without taxpayer support. Forcing taxpayers to fund an organization that so many find morally bankrupt undermines the values of millions.
Defunding Planned Parenthood would merely redirect resources to federally qualified health centers, which serve more than 30 million patients annually with comprehensive care — mammograms, prenatal support and mental health services, among other things — without abortion or experimental treatments, according to the Health Resources and Services Administration.
These centers embody the kind of care I championed in Congress, as when I voted for the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act and spoke out against bills designed to funnel money to Planned Parenthood.
As Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy noted in their November 20, 2024, Wall Street Journal op-ed, the Department of Government Efficiency aims to cut more than $500 billion in unauthorized spending, citing Planned Parenthood's funding as a prime target. Recent Supreme Court rulings such as West Virginia v. EPA (2022) and Loper Bright v. Raimondo (2024), affirm that agencies cannot impose policies without clear congressional approval — a principle that applies to PPFA's bloated funding.
Before retiring in December 2024, I stood on the House floor, as I did in 2020 at a pro-life hearing, saying, 'Abortion doesn't bring hope or healing. There is a despair that has come over our country.'
My journey with Cole has shown me the beauty of embracing life's challenges instead of erasing them.
Defunding Planned Parenthood is about reclaiming moral clarity and fiscal responsibility, investing in care that respects the dignity of every human person — born and unborn. Congress must act now to honor the constitutional promise of life and protect our children from harm. As a mother and former congresswoman, I urge my former colleagues to defund Planned Parenthood and choose hope.
Cathy McMorris Rodgers represented Washington's Fifth Congressional District in Congress from 2005 to 2025.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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