ICYMI: On the Dobbs Anniversary, Warren Slams Republicans for Defunding Planned Parenthood, Sounds Alarm On Misleading New Anti-Abortion Government Website

“Decisions about abortion should be made by the patient, the doctor, the family that the patient wants to bring in, and not by some politician off in Washington” Video of Exchange (YouTube) Washington, D.C. — At a spotlight forum hosted by U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Patty Murray (D-WA), senior member and former chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), and Tina Smith (D-Minn.), highlighted the consequences of the Dobbs decision four years later and slammed Republicans’ attacks on reproductive freedom, including the Trump administration’s new website, Moms.gov, which promotes anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers, which have been known to provide misinformation and jeopardize women’s health and data privacy. President Donald Trump and Republicans have continuously attempted to strip abortion access and defund Planned Parenthood. Last year, a provision in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) barred Medicaid from reimbursing certain nonprofit family planning and reproductive health providers that provide abortions. Federal law already bans the use of federal funds to provide abortions, but this provision blocked Medicaid reimbursement for all non-abortion services provided, including birth control, cancer screenings, and wellness exams. In March 2026, the senator released a report that found that since the provision to “defund” Planned Parenthood went into effect, the number of breast exam visits at Planned Parenthood centers fell by 25%, 25,000 patients lost access to birth control, and nearly 75% of Planned Parenthood closures occurred in rural and medically underserved areas. Alexis McGill Johnson, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, confirmed that, while the intent of the  OBBBA was to punish Planned Parenthood for being an abortion provider, in effect, it stripped women of access to comprehensive primary care. . “It was a targeted political attack that had the consequence of also impacting millions of women across this country,” said Alexis McGill Johnson . Two independent clinics, Health Imperatives in Massachusetts and Maine Family Planning, have also been affected by Republican attacks. Evelyn Kiltika, Senior Vice President of Program Services at Maine Family Planning, discussed the impact of being forced out of Medicaid, including closing three primary care practices in rural parts of the state and affecting a thousand patients. “It is an attempt to already put a strangle around what is clearly essential health care in what is in the midst of a health care crisis,” said Evelyn Kiltika. In the forum, Senator Warren also criticized the Trump administration’s new anti-abortion website. On Mother’s Day, Moms.gov was launched as “a groundbreaking website for new and expecting mothers” purporting to “offer[] guidance and information to support the health and well-being of mothers and their families.” However, rather than connect people with licensed health care providers and evidence-based resources, a button reading “Find Pregnancy Centers Near You” steers users to an external site called Option Line, a CPC finder tool that collects data on pregnant women. McGill Johnson stated that crisis pregnancy centers do not have the same obligation to provide medically accurate information as health centers, leading to harm for women: “They are steering dollars, taxpayer dollars, to misinformation, and it’s harming women in communities.” “Republicans in Washington are trying to sneak through these backdoor abortion bans because they know that the American people are not with them,” said Senator Warren . “Decisions about abortion should be made by the patient, the doctor, the family that the patient wants to bring in, and not by some politician off in Washington or some state capital, and that’s what we’re going to keep fighting for,” concluded Senator Warren . Transcript: Post-Dobbs Chaos: Republicans’ War on Reproductive Health Care June 23, 2026 Senator Elizabeth Warren: Thank you very much, Senator Murray, and I want to say thank you for organizing this, along with my co-hosts, Senator Baldwin and Senator Smith. Tomorrow marks the four-year anniversary of losing Roe versus Wade, and in that four years, 21 states in this country have put in place either an outright ban on abortions or so many restrictions that they make it virtually impossible. And in those 21 states, instead of families and their doctors making really tough decisions, it’s now a politician who’s right in the middle of the decision and the principal one to call the shots. That’s what four years without Roe versus Wade has brought us. Politicians who have a whole lot more power, and broken-hearted mamas and daddies, and doctors trying to practice medicine, who all have a whole lot less power to get to the places that families need to be. I’d like to start out, if I can, with you, Ms. McGill Johnson, you lead Planned Parenthood, and you have called the defund policy that people have been talking about this afternoon just a backdoor abortion ban. How is it that Republicans can threaten abortion access, even in states like mine, which protect access to abortion, but Republicans are figuring out how to block it? Can you say more about that? Alexis McGill Johnson: Absolutely. Thank you, Senator Warren, for the question. I mean, clearly this did not end with Dobbs. This did not end with their passion for denying us our basic bodily autonomy was not just about returning the decision to the states, to the politicians in banned states. It was about trying to find any and all means of limiting access to care, and so the defund provision in H.R. 1 last year that was signed into law was designed to restrict patients from using their Medicaid insurance at Planned Parenthood health centers. Now we know a lot of states, particularly those states with bans, never expanded Medicaid under the ACA, so they weren’t able to, so at the time it did not have the same impact, but many states that have abortion access expanded access to Medicaid, and is where many of our ability to provide access to abortion exists. Since that defund provision went into effect last year, we have lost about 50 health centers in Senator Warren: One-five? Alexis McGill Johnson: Five-zero— Senator Warren: Five-zero. 50. Alexis McGill Johnson: —health centers over the last year. 20 since the defund provision. And so the impact of that means that the states where, you know, where abortion access exists are losing access to Medicaid funding, have lost access to Medicaid funding, while some have been backfilled generously by their states. It has impacted their ability to continue to provide abortion care in the same way. So, that was why we called it a backdoor abortion ban. Senator Warren: So, here’s Donald Trump, who said in 2016 he promised he would defund Planned Parenthood as long as they are doing abortions, can’t pass a federal law to do that, can’t do it through the political system, so finds the backdoor way to do it. But one of the consequences of this, I take it, is not only to defund abortions but also to put other health care services at risk for women. I put a report together revealing new data that since the bill passed, the number of breast exam visits at Planned Parenthood centers fell by 25%, 25,000 patients lost access to birth control, and nearly 75% of Planned Parenthood closures occurred in rural and medically underserved areas. So this is not just targeting abortions, this is targeting women’s lives all across this country. Would you like to say more about that? Alexis McGill Johnson: Absolutely, I mean, and again, that was the intent of the bill. The intent of the bill was to, you know, was to harm women, right? It was to harm patients at Planned Parenthood. And it was to harm a provider that has stood up strongly and vocally against this administration’s policies, right? It was a targeted political attack that had the consequence of also impacting millions of women across this country. Senator Warren: So attack the health of women and silence the women who speak up on their behalf. And, you know, it’s not just Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood has drawn a lot of the fire, but two independent clinics, Health Imperatives in Massachusetts and Maine Family Planning, have also been swept up in the Republican attack. We have Ms. Kieltyka. You lead the Maine Family Planning in one of the most rural states in America. President Trump and Congressional Republicans have forced you out of Medicaid. Can you just say something about how that has affected the communities that you serve? Evelyn Kieltyka: Well, as has been effectively said, this has never been just about abortion. It’s about creating chaos in whether or not patients can access any sort of sexual or reproductive health care, and it has certainly impacted us in Maine. It is an attempt to already put a strangle around what is clearly essential health care in what is in the midst of a health care crisis. So, as I said earlier, we had to close three primary care practices in our most rural parts of the state, affecting a thousand patients. And it’s created disruption for our family planning patients. When Dobbs fell, and with this, and most recently with the Medicaid ban, and our patients heard about that, the phone was ringing up at our call center to say, “Can I still get access to care?” “What does this mean for me?” to the point, generally, always personally, “What does this mean to me?” Senator Warren: Right. And if I can just slip in one more point here. You know, while Republicans in Congress defund legitimate health centers like Planned Parenthood and Maine Family Planning, what are they offering instead? The Trump administration is spending your taxpayer dollars on a new government website called “Moms.gov” that claims to help new and expectant mothers but in fact is promoting anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers. Ms. McGill Johnson, I’ve run over my time here, but can I ask you just to make the point: Is the Trump administration steering women to real healthcare providers? Alexis McGill Johnson: In limited time, no. Senator Warren: Can she have a minute more? Alexis McGill Johnson: Crisis pregnancy centers do not have the same obligation to speak the truth and to give medically accurate information to women. So, they are steering dollars, taxpayer dollars, to misinformation, and it’s harming women in communities. Senator Warren: So, it’s misinformation, but does anybody get hurt by this misinformation? Alexis McGill Johnson: Yes, people get harmed all the time when they are not allowed to make decisions about their own bodies, when they are being, you know, given kind of fake ultrasounds about where they are in their gestational period, and then being delayed access to real abortion providers when they have stated that that is what their preference is. So, yes, they are being harmed. Senator Warren: Yeah. So look, here’s the good news: Republicans in Washington are trying to sneak through these backdoor abortion bans because they know that the American people are not with them. The voters don’t like their extreme agenda. If they liked the agenda, they’d be out here doing it in public. Instead, it’s these alternative ways, and because they know we have the power to push back, and that’s the part we have to remember. What’s happening is terrible, but what’s also happening is that we are more and more determined than ever to push back. Decisions about abortion should be made by the patient, the doctor, the family that the patient wants to bring in, and not by some politician off in Washington or some state capital, and that’s what we’re going to keep fighting for. Senator Warren has led the fight to protect women’s reproductive rights: In June 2026, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), along with Senator Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), pressed President Donald Trump and Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on the Trump Administration’s new website, Moms.gov, which directs pregnant women and their loved ones to unregulated and often nonmedical anti-abortion facilities known as crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs). In May 2026, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) led the entire Senate Democratic caucus in reintroducing a resolution affirming that the abortion medication mifepristone is safe and effective and underscoring that law and policy related to the medication must be equitable, transparent, and based on the best available peer-reviewed evidence-based science. In May 2026, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) led 12 senators in pressing the Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on the Commission’s efforts to weaken a rule affirming employment protections for workers undergoing fertility treatments. In March 2026, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.); Ron Wyden, Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee (D-Ore.); and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) led 23 colleagues in publishing a new report revealing the harm Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress have caused to Americans in the six months since their dangerous provision to “defund” Planned Parenthood, buried in their Big, Beautiful Bill, went into effect. In November 2025, ahead of the Senate Finance Committee’s confirmation vote for Thomas M. Bell, Donald Trump’s nominee for Health and Human Services (HHS) Inspector General (IG), U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) exposed Bell’s flip-flopping and slammed his extreme anti-abortion views. In July 2025, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) pressed Michael Stuart, nominee for General Counsel of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) , on his dangerous anti-vaccine views, staunch anti-abortion advocacy, and more. Ahead of his confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Finance Committee later today — at which Senator Warren will question Stuart — Senator Warren sent Stuart a letter outlining her key concerns with his nomination. In February 2025, Senators Warren and Duckworth pressed Dr. Mehmet Oz , President Trump’s then-nominee for the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), on his hostile anti-abortion record. In December 2024, Senators Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) reintroduced the Health and Location Data Protection Act , legislation banning data brokers from selling Americans’ sensitive personal information. In September 2024, at a hearing of the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Elizabeth Warren highlighted the dangerous consequences women faced after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. In January 2024, on the 51st anniversary of Roe v. Wade, United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) spoke on the floor of the United States Senate about the fight ahead to restore abortion rights and protect reproductive freedom. In December 2023, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) led 40 other lawmakers in introducing a resolution in support of equitable, science-based policies governing access to medication abortion. In May 2023, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) expanded their investigation into the effects of state abortion bans on women, as the country neared the first anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. In March 2023, U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), along with Senators Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), and Cory Booker (D-N.J.), sent a letter to Walgreens CEO Rosalind Brewer , expressing concern regarding recent reports that the company would not dispense medication abortion in 21 states where Republican Attorneys General have threatened the company. In January 2023, United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Representative Cori Bush (D-Mo.) sent a letter to the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) in support of their October proposed rule on employee status, which would help reclassify potentially thousands of misclassified workers. In November 2022, United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and eight Senate Democrats sent a letter to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf encouraging the agency to defend Americans’ reproductive rights and to consider steps to protect and expand access to medication abortion. In November 2022, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) released a new report: Post-Roe Abortion Bans Threaten Women’s Lives: Health Care Providers Speak Out on the Devastating Harm Posed by Abortion Bans and Restrictions. The 23-page report – based on information provided by leading health care providers – reveals the devastating consequences of state abortion bans and restrictions enacted by right-wing legislatures and the impacts of Senate Republicans’ extreme proposal to ban abortion nationwide after 15 weeks. ###