This article originally appeared in the Washington State Standard.
Washington state will backfill lost Medicaid dollars for Planned Parenthood after a court ruling last week.
At the same time, advocates continue to push to restore the funding for abortion access that lawmakers cut in Washington’s new state budget.
The so-called “big, beautiful bill” that congressional Republicans approved in July included a prohibition on Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood clinics across the country. Unlike many of the law’s other provisions, the one-year moratorium took effect when President Donald Trump signed the law.
Gov. Bob Ferguson committed in July to backfilling more than $11 million Planned Parenthood stands to lose in Washington without a year’s worth of federal Medicaid reimbursements.
In response to a lawsuit from the nonprofit, a federal judge quickly blocked this part of the law after its passage.
But last week, a Boston-based appeals court allowed the federal government to stop Medicaid spending for Planned Parenthood services. The ruling could jeopardize medical care for more than 1.1 million patients using Medicaid nationwide, including nearly 43,000 in Washington, according to the organization.
“The real victims in the Trump Administration’s political, cruel attack on reproductive rights are Washingtonians who will lose their health care provider. I will not allow that to happen,” Ferguson said in a statement. “Washington will step into this temporary gap to ensure women continue to have access to critical health care.”
Planned Parenthood clinics will submit claims to the state Health Care Authority for Medicaid reimbursement, as usual. But now that money will come only from state coffers, with no federal help.
“The experience for Planned Parenthood and its patients will remain the same,” said Jennifer Martinez, spokesperson for Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates. “The only thing that’s changing is where the money is coming from.”
Medicaid, which provides health coverage to low-income and disabled Americans, is jointly funded by the federal government and states. Federal dollars under the program already can’t pay for abortions except when a pregnancy endangers the mother or is the product of rape or incest.
The new moratorium targets Planned Parenthood’s other services, including primary care and cancer screenings. The organization says that abortions make up just a fraction of the services it provides.
In Washington, Planned Parenthood’s 30 health centers serve over 100,000 patients each year, according to the nonprofit. Planned Parenthood has previously closed clinics in Washington due to low Medicaid reimbursement rates. In Washington, Medicaid is known as Apple Health.
Elsewhere, Planned Parenthood has said a block of Medicaid funding puts many of its health centers at risk of closure. Democratic state lawmakers in Oregon are forming a work group to brainstorm ways to reimburse Planned Parenthood centers.
Abortion Access Project
Reimbursements are coming as leaders of Planned Parenthood press Ferguson and state lawmakers to restore the $8.5 million cut from the Abortion Access Project in the current two-year budget. The project funneled money to Planned Parenthood and other groups.
Washington created the Abortion Access Project following the U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn the Roe v. Wade ruling, which guaranteed the right to an abortion. The loss of dollars could mean reduced hours and staffing cuts at clinics and less security for patients, advocates say.
This week, they learned the state Department of Health, which would oversee the money, did not ask the governor to include it in the supplemental budget he will release in December.
While there is no formal request, a spokesman for the Office of Financial Management said it is anticipated the issue will be part of the conversation as the budget is developed.
Martinez of Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates said she understood agency proposals needed to be “narrow and limited in scope.”
Planned Parenthood stood to receive $6.8 million in state funding over two years. Martinez said service reductions are not imminent, and the organization is “committed to keeping its doors open and serving patients.”
“We remain cautiously optimistic that this funding will be included in December’s budget,” she said, adding the organization “is in the midst of a perfect storm — increasing health care costs, workforce shortages, and attacks from a hostile Trump administration. The last thing Planned Parenthood providers and patients need is a funding cut from the state government.”
The Washington State Standard originally published this article on Sept. 18, 2025.
