An informal proposal from President Donald Trump to Planned Parenthood was rejected after the organization, which receives $500 million a year from the government to provide health services to women, refused to stop providing abortions as a condition of keeping or getting increases in funding.
Republicans are looking at various ways to defund the organization, including as part of a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare or by an executive order, but the group signaled that cutting abortion services from its offerings would not be an option, according to The Washington Times.
"Providing critical health care services for millions of American women is non-negotiable," Planned Parenthood executive vice president and chief brand officer Dawn Laguens said to the Times.
Laguens noted that no federal funds are used to pay for abortions directly, although some in the pro-life movement have pointed out that the use of federal funds to pay for non-abortion services facilitates the organization using more of other funds collected to pay for abortions.
Trump confirmed discussions about the informal proposal to The New York Times.
"As I said throughout the campaign, I am pro-life and I am deeply committed to investing in women’s health and plan to significantly increase federal funding in support of nonabortion services such as cancer screenings," he said, according to The New York Times. "Polling shows the majority of Americans oppose public funding for abortion, even those who identify as pro-choice. There is an opportunity for organizations to continue the important work they do in support of women’s health, while not providing abortion services."
Organization President Cecile Richards tweeted, "Planned parenthood is proud to provide abortion—a necessary service that’s as vital to our mission as birth control or cancer screenings."
"We won’t back down in the face of threats or intimidation, or turn our backs on the patients who count on us. Not today, not tomorrow," Richards continued in another tweet.
Planned Parenthood has often said that only 3 percent of its services are abortions, but news outlets such as The Washington Post have said that the figure is misleading because it uses the number of services performed rather than the number of patients.
Twitter users commented about the offer.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.