GOP move to bar Planned Parenthood from Medicaid is 'life-and-death' in Idaho

Nicole Blanchard, Idaho Statesman on May 27, 2025

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BOISE, Idaho — A prominent reproductive health care provider warned that Idaho residents may be forced to go without care after federal lawmakers voted in favor of a spending bill that bars Medicaid recipients from using its facilities.

Planned Parenthood, which operates hundreds of health clinics across the country, said the One Big Beautiful Bill Act will “defund” the nonprofit and could shutter 200 clinics. The reconciliation bill covers everything from tax cuts to clean energy and includes the largest cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, in the programs’ histories, according to CNBC.

While the bill doesn’t explicitly name Planned Parenthood, it bans Medicaid funding for the next 10 years for the following: nonprofit health care providers that mainly serve low-income, underserved communities and focus on family planning and reproductive health care; provide abortions outside of cases of rape, incest or life-threatening medical situations; and received more than $1 million in federal funding in the last fiscal year.

House Republicans — including Idaho Reps. Russ Fulcher and Mike Simpson — voted to pass the bill Thursday. Fulcher and Simpson did not respond to requests for comment.

Rebecca Gibron, CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawai‘i, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky, which covers Idaho, told the Idaho Statesman in an emailed statement that the bill “threatens to dismantle the already-fragile care infrastructure in our state.”

“These are not abstract policy shifts; they are life-and-death decisions,” Gibron said.

Idaho reproductive health care ‘in freefall,’ Planned Parenthood CEO says

Gibron said Idaho’s health care system is “in freefall.” She cited growing numbers of rural hospital closures, shuttered labor and delivery departments and a “dire” OBGYN shortage.

Idaho lost nearly one-quarter of its practicing OBGYNs in the 15 months following the U.S. Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade in 2022. The reversal triggered a near-total abortion ban in Idaho that has set off numerous legal challenges.

“Medicaid cuts to Planned Parenthood won’t just disrupt our care — they’ll put more pressure on a collapsing system that’s already struggling to survive,” Gibron said. “Rural hospitals cannot absorb this demand without risking their own existence. Idaho needs every health provider we have.”

During the 2025 legislative session, Idaho lawmakers floated various ideas to entice doctors back to the state amid what one legislator called a “a critical need for more physicians, particularly in rural and underserved areas.”

Gibron said that’s exactly where Planned Parenthood is caring for Idaho residents, particularly with its telehealth program.

“Telehealth expands access. Medicaid makes it affordable,” she said. “Without both, Idahoans will be forced to delay or forgo care — and the consequences will be felt across every county. Planned Parenthood’s Virtual Health Center was created to overcome the state’s severe barriers to in-person care — but that care still depends on sustainable funding.”

Gibron said Planned Parenthood had 7,500 patient visits in Idaho last year, and about half of the patients were at or below the federal poverty level. A 2020 Planned Parenthood report estimated 60% of the organization’s patients nationwide used Medicaid or Title X family planning.

Gibron said it’s not clear what will happen to Idaho’s remaining Planned Parenthood clinic if the U.S. Senate OKs the bill. Planned Parenthood operates a single location in Meridian and offers telehealth appointments. The organization closed a Boise clinic in 2022 and a Twin Falls clinic in December 2024.

“If Planned Parenthood is ‘defunded,’ we’ll assess what it means for our ability to provide care and keep our community informed every step of the way,” she said. “We are doing everything in our power to keep the Meridian health center open and our patients supported.”

Gibron said Idaho patients can get birth control, emergency contraception, gender-affirming care, HIV services, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, pregnancy testing and planning and menopause support.

She called the bill “a targeted, ideological attack on health care” and noted that the Hyde Amendment already bans the use of federal funds for abortions except in life-threatening situations or instances of rape or incest. In Idaho, where abortion is already illegal, Gibron said Planned Parenthood is just doing its best to keep patients healthy.

“When our health centers are ‘defunded,’ cancers go undetected, STIs go untreated, and birth control becomes harder to access,” she said.