Oregon’s top lawyer is joining 22 Democratic attorneys general suing the Trump administration on Tuesday over efforts to restrict Planned Parenthood clinics from receiving federal Medicaid dollars.
The suit comes after President Trump signed into law the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which prohibits health care centers that provide abortions from receiving any Medicaid payments, a move that could threaten their ability to continue to operate. A federal judge recently blocked the Trump administration from enforcing this provision of the bill.
But Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield said states are pursuing their legal battle because the stakes are high.
In Oregon alone, Rayfield said, thousands of people rely on Planned Parenthood clinics for their health care. Federal money cannot be used on abortions even before the latest legislation passed. So, Rayfield said, it’s other general health services that are in jeopardy. Planned Parenthood clinics provide a wide-range of health care services and about 10% of their care is abortion-related services.
“It’s the cancer screenings all the way to birth control and you are removing that ecosystem, that health care for people in Oregon,” he said. “And it is specifically targeting Planned Parenthood based on their advocacy and that’s un-American.”
In the past fiscal year, Oregon’s two Planned Parenthood branches saw more than 50,000 visits from people who are covered by Medicaid, which is funded by a mix of state and federal dollars.
“In some communities, Planned Parenthood health centers are the only health care centers,” said Christopher Coburn, the executive director of Planned Parenthood Action Oregon.
Because Medicaid is a mix of both state and federal dollars, the lawsuit argues pulling the funds puts states in a difficult position. The states either watch Planned Parenthood clinics close, which could hurt their health care systems and drive up costs in the long term, or tap more state budget dollars to keep them open on their own, which puts them in a difficult budget position. In Oregon, Planned Parenthood relies on more than $16.7 million in Medicaid reimbursements, according to a press release from the state’s Department of Justice.
While campaigning for the job as attorney general, Rayfield said protecting access to reproductive health care would be a key focus. This marks the 35th lawsuit the state has filed against the Trump administration since Rayfield entered office.
This lawsuit, Rayfield told OPB, was important because, he said, “Oregonians are going to be harmed” and this was “at odds with Oregon’s values.”
This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.