Today marks the fourth anniversary of President Trump’s hand-picked Supreme Court ending the federal right to abortion with the Dobbsv. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision. Since then, more people have suffered and died because of restrictive anti-abortion laws, which have banned some or all abortion in 20 states.
To mark the anniversary, Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, released the following statement:
“Four years after President Trump’s handpicked Supreme Court ended the constitutional right to abortion, their decision continues to devastate people across the country. With each passing day, more people are hurt, more families are broken, and more people’s lives are upended. Anti-abortion rights lawmakers continue to weaponize the Court’s decision to make it harder for everyone, everywhere to get the care they need. On this anniversary, it’s clearer than ever that it’s on all of us to fight back against an unpopular political agenda that has blocked people’s health, lives, and freedoms.”
President Trump and his backers in Congress have spent their time in office making it harder for everyone, everywhere to get lifesaving reproductive health care, including abortion. Last July, they passed a law that “defunded” Planned Parenthood for one year by attempting to bar patients from using their Medicaid insurance at Planned Parenthood health centers. The harm they’ve caused is clear:
- Since the start of the Trump-Vance administration more than 50 Planned Parenthood health centers have been forced to close. More than 20 of those closures came after President Trump signed the law “defunding” Planned Parenthood.
- A Senate report examining the harm of “defunding” Planned Parenthood showed that in the six months since the “defunding” of Planned Parenthood took effect, fewer people have been able to get reproductive care at Planned Parenthood health centers in 2025 compared to the same period in 2024:
- The number of breast exam visits fell by 25% in Dec., increasing the risk of delayed breast cancer detection and avoidable, more serious illness.
- Visits for IUDs and other long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) dropped by 41% in Nov. and 36% in Dec.– the steepest decline across all services measured.
- STI testing declined by 11% in Nov. and 4% in Dec., limiting early diagnosis and treatment and increasing preventable spread and long-term health consequences.
- And there were 20% fewer visits for birth control pills in November.
- Now, House Republicans want to permanently “defund” Planned Parenthood because, where legal, Planned Parenthood health centers provide abortion.
This content originally appeared on Common Dreams and was authored by Newswire Editor.