Even though Planned Parenthood has regained access to hundreds of millions of dollars for healthcare services, one of the nation’s largest affiliates in Southern California says the damage done to patients and providers will take years to rebuild.
Read more RHOC20: Housewives share their favorite Orange County restaurants
“The expiration of the federal defunding of Planned Parenthood is welcome news, but the damage it has done to our patients and providers will last for years to come,” said Krista Hollinger, president and chief executive officer of Anaheim-based Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino counties.
A one-year ban on federal funding for Planned Parenthood expired July Fourth because congressional Republicans were unable to extend the embargo amid internal divisions.
“As we have for the past 60 years, our doors remain open right here in Southern California, and we will continue providing the quality, compassionate care our patients rely on us for, no matter what,” said Hollinger in a statement provided to the Southern California News Group.
Affiliates in California were hurt by the one-year ban in access to federal funding because they couldn’t bill for services provided — such as birth control, cancer screening, sexually transmitted infection testing and treatment and gynecological exams.
The cuts were so deep that some affiliates in California closed centers and laid off workers. Even with restoration of some funding for Planned Parenthood, the organization continues to operate on pins and needles because Congress could cut funding again — or worse yet — make the cuts permanent instead of renewing them annually.
Following the year-ago ban, the cash-strapped Planned Parenthood of Orange County and San Bernardino laid off 81 people as it shuttered Melody Health, its primary care practice after the Trump administration blocked the organization from receiving Medicaid funds.
There are no plans to reinstate Melody Health even with the ban in billing for services lifted, Hollinger said.
Medicaid provides healthcare coverage for eligible low-income individuals, including children and their families, pregnant women, older adults and people with disabilities.
Before July 2025, federal funding through Medicaid reimbursement was 50% of the local affiliate’s annual operating budget of $100 million.
In California, more than 80% of patients who come to Planned Parenthood for healthcare are enrolled in Medi-Cal.
As a result of last year’s “defund provision,” more than 100 Planned Parenthood centers across the state could not receive reimbursement in Medi-Cal programs through June 2026. That resulted in the state losing more than $300 million in federal funding for family planning services — and jeopardized more than $400 million in Medi-Cal revenue that affiliates are paid annually for services, according to information provided by Planned Parenthood.
Medi-Cal is California’s Medicaid program, providing free or low-cost comprehensive coverage to low-income residents, including families, children, older adults and people with disabilities.
Financial hits
The Orange County and San Bernardino affiliate wasn’t the only one hurt financially.
In August 2025, San Jose-based Planned Parenthood Mar Monte laid off 113 workers in connection with the and the sunset of some services across Central California and Las Vegas and Reno, both in Nevada.
“I think we are all in a position where we are doing everything we can to keep care as available as we can through the end of this administration,” said Serena Josel, vice president in charge of abortion access with Planned Parenthood of Los Angeles.
The L.A. affiliate, which dodged layoffs and center closings, has 23 health centers that serve nearly with roughly 69% living at or below the federal poverty level of $15,650 for a one-person household.
Read more In a surprise swap, Trump flies back from Turkey in an old Air Force One, not the Qatari-gifted jet
“That’s the reality. They have said that they would like to reinstate the ban, they would like to make it permanent, if they could. We just have to stay ready,” said Josel, whose organization tightened its belt and raised funds from private philanthropists to get the through lean times.
“The fight isn’t over,” wrote Hollinger on the expiration of the one-year funding ban. “The Trump administration and its allies in Congress are still trying to attack women’s healthcare in multiple ways, including an attempt to permanently defund Planned Parenthood, block our patients from needed care, and shut us down completely,” she said.
Like the L.A. organization, Hollinger also has solicited financial donations to “help us preserve our vital services.”
‘Beautiful’ law
The defunding came after Congressional Republicans passed President Donald Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act.”
The law, signed by Trump on July 4, 2025, included a provision that restricts federal funding for Planned Parenthood Federation of America or any of its affiliates or clinics for one year. That provision was paused under a court injunction in July, but was restored when the court order was stayed Sept. 11. Congressional Republican members said — as it stands — the defunding provision would need to be renewed annually.
This didn’t happen by July 4, 2026, when the defunding provision expired.
Since last fall, California has provided $235 million to the state’s seven Planned Parenthood affiliates — with Planned Parenthood of Orange County and San Bernardino counted as among one of the largest in the nation as measured in patient volume. The affiliate serves more than 130,000 patients annually across nine health centers in both counties.
In February, California injected a $90 million lifeline in “reproductive healthcare” grants to the state’s seven affiliates. California’s emergency funding was part of the state’s fiscal budget year that ended June 30. That funding came as a result of legislation, Senate Bill 106, passed by state lawmakers and signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Feb. 11.
New state funding in the fiscal budget year that began July 1 includes a pool of about $71 million to help defray some of the losses at the federal level for sexual and reproductive health care, according to the Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California.
“Currently, there are no plans for additional state funding,” said Khalida Sarwari, a spokeswoman with the office of state Sen. John Laird (D-Santa Cruz). Laird, who is chair of the Senate budget and fiscal review committee, authored the legislation that provided the $90 million to the women’s health care organization in last year’s budget.
The previous allocations were to make Planned Parenthood whole from the cuts made by the One Big, Beautiful Bill, she said.
The affiliates nationwide — like those in Southern California — still cannot receive funds for abortions but can resume billing the feds for up to $800 million a year for other health services that it provides to poor and disabled patients.
Nichole Ramirez, a spokeswoman for the Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino counties, explained that her agency doesn’t request access to the federal funds directly. Instead, her agency gets reimbursed for services provided — just like any other Medicaid and Medi-Cal provider.
“Now that the unjust federal funding ban has expired, they can go back to billing for those services,” Ramirez said.
Josel said that her affiliate has already resumed billing for services now that the ban has been lifted. However, that could change should Congressional Republicans impose a permanent or temporary ban on funding again.
“It has been a really challenging time for affiliates across the country, and this is just one of the many attacks on reproductive healthcare,” she said. “The reality is that it is so important for everyone who supports access to these services to take these threats seriously, to support their local healthcare providers, because even in a state like California, we are not immune to the impacts of these attacks.”
Read more Outbreak of diarrhea-causing parasite grows to more than 1,000 cases