Roe Reckonings

— This Week in US Reproductive Rights

Key updates from 30 June – 3 July 2025

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1. Trump’s Spending Bill Could Defund Clinics Nationwide

Buried in the Republican Party’s new budget is a sweeping restriction: clinics that also provide abortion care would lose all Medicaid reimbursements — not just for abortion-related services. That includes funding for STI testing, cancer screenings, birth control, and basic check-ups. If passed, it could trigger a wave of clinic closures, hitting rural and underserved areas the hardest.

👉 Read more at The Guardian

👉 Coverage via The Daily Beast

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2. Senate Version Targets Planned Parenthood

The Senate’s version of the bill slightly reduces the length of the proposed ban but still defunds Planned Parenthood and similar providers for one year. Even without touching abortion procedures directly, cutting Medicaid reimbursements for basic care could force many clinics to close.

👉 Read at Fierce on Healthcare

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3. Medicaid Cuts Go Even Deeper

Alongside the attack on reproductive health, the bill proposes slashing nearly $930 billion from Medicaid overall – the largest proposed cut to the programme in decades. This disproportionately impacts low-income families and marginalised communities.

👉 Full breakdown from KLCC

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4. Supreme Court Clears Path for State-Level Defunding

At the same time, in a closely watched case, the Supreme Court recently allowed South Carolina to specifically exclude Planned Parenthood from Medicaid, emboldening Republican states and reinforcing momentum for a nationwide defunding push.

👉 Analysis from TIME

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What’s Really at Stake

This fight isn’t just about abortion — it’s about the future of public health access in America. For millions, Planned Parenthood and similar clinics are their only healthcare providers. A deliberate, quiet strategy is unfolding: dismantle reproductive healthcare infrastructure by targeting how it’s funded.Legal scholar Mary Ziegler warns this could be the most significant rollback since the Hyde Amendment. And because it’s buried in budget bills, most Americans don’t see it coming.

👉 Ziegler interview via Vox

As legal scholar Mary Ziegler explains, this could be the most serious attack on reproductive access since the Hyde Amendment in 1976. And yet it’s flying under the radar. That’s no accident – it’s a deliberate strategy to dismantle care, one funding cut at a time.

👉 Ziegler interview via Vox

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What to Watch