In abstract
Below Mission 2025, all 50 states can be mandated to report detailed abortion-related knowledge to the federal authorities or danger funding cuts. California is considered one of three states that presently doesn’t report.
If President-elect Donald Trump goes ahead with Mission 2025, California may lose out on not less than $300 million a yr in funding for abortions, household planning and contraception for thousands and thousands of low-income residents.
Mission 2025, a right-wing blueprint for the following president, focused the state with an ultimatum that will require California to begin reporting abortion knowledge to the Facilities for Illness Management or danger shedding vital Medicaid funding.
Regardless of Trump’s makes an attempt to distance himself from the plan through the marketing campaign, not less than 140 of his allies produced the report and he’s appointing key figures from the mission to his administration. As California leaders rush to protect the state from a Trump agenda, preserving reproductive freedoms stands as a high precedence.
Newsom referred to as a particular session for subsequent month to “Trump-proof” California, and he’s hiring legal professionals to arrange for Day 1 of the Trump presidency.
“Whether it be our fundamental civil rights, reproductive freedom, or climate action – we refuse to turn back the clock and allow our values and laws to be attacked,” Newsom mentioned in an announcement.
When CalMatters first reported on the ultimatum in September, the California Division of Well being Care Providers didn’t present particular figures detailing how a lot the state receives in federal reimbursements for reproductive healthcare supplied via Medi-Cal. The division now says the federal authorities reimbursed California about $310.7 million for reproductive healthcare final yr, in line with California Division of Well being Care Providers figures. Within the earlier yr, the state obtained $334.5 million. That funding helps Medi-Cal, the single largest payer of maternity care within the nation. Medi-Cal covers about 14.2 million Californians. All instructed, the federal authorities reimbursed the state $90.9 billion for Medi-Cal final yr.
Below Mission 2025, all 50 states can be mandated to report detailed abortion-related knowledge to the federal authorities, together with info akin to the rationale for the abortion, the fetus’ gestational age, the birthing mum or dad’s state of residence, whether or not the process was surgical or medication-induced, and extra.
At present, California, Maryland, and New Hampshire don’t require abortion suppliers to share affected person knowledge with the federal authorities. Shortly after the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the California Division of Public Well being mentioned that it doesn’t report abortion knowledge federally as a result of it isn’t legally obligated to take action. States that do acquire abortion knowledge usually use it for public well being analyses, which will help establish gaps in care and enhance entry to providers.
Newsom’s workplace didn’t present particulars on the projected prices of lawyering up, however mentioned the governor plans for laws to provide extra sources to the California Division of Justice and different state businesses.
These sources are supposed “to pursue robust affirmative litigation against any unlawful actions by the incoming Trump Administration, as well as defend against federal lawsuits aimed at undermining California’s laws and policies,” the governor’s workplace mentioned. “The funding will support the ability to immediately file litigation and seek injunctive relief against unlawful federal actions.”
Trump tapped two people related to Mission 2025 for roles in his administration. Brendan Carr, who authored Mission 2025’s part on the Federal Communications Fee, will lead the company.
Tom Homan, an immigration hawk who’s listed in Mission 2025’s credit as having assisted in creating and writing the playbook, will function the border czar, overseeing immigration insurance policies and implementing mass deportation methods. The spot just isn’t an official cupboard place.
To guide the Division of Well being and Human Providers, Trump tapped Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an environmental lawyer who beforehand fought California over vaccine mandates. . The division controls oversight of Medicaid spending and performs a vital position in abortion reporting by setting federal pointers and implementing privateness protections beneath HIPAA.
Kennedy doesn’t seem to have endorsed Mission 2025. His stance on abortion has been notably inconsistent over time. In Might, he expressed assist for unrestricted abortion entry, stating he opposed any authorities restrictions, “even if it’s full term.”
Nevertheless, he later revised his place, advocating for authorized abortion as much as the purpose of fetal viabilitythe stage at which a fetus can doubtlessly survive exterior the womb.
Roger Severino, who served because the Division of Well being and Human Providers’ director of the Workplace for Civil Rights beneath Trump, authored Mission 2025’s abortion surveillance plan. He’s now the vice chairman of home coverage on the Heritage Basis, the conservative suppose tank behind Mission 2025. He declined an interview request.
Severino’s imaginative and prescient for remaking the division is a cornerstone of Mission 2025’s effort to impose stricter federal oversight on abortion practices, notably concentrating on states like California, which gives better entry to abortion providers than most different states.
“Because liberal states have now become sanctuaries for abortion tourism, (the Department of Health and Human Services) should use every available tool, including the cutting of funds, to ensure that every state reports exactly how many abortions take place within its borders, at what gestational age of the child, for what reason, the mother’s state of residence, and by what method,” reads the chapter on abortion reporting.
The potential fallout isn’t restricted to California. Specialists have warned that different states with progressive abortion insurance policies might face comparable funding threats, amplifying the nationwide debate over reproductive rights beneath Trump’s second time period.
After Election Day, Newsom traveled to Washington, D.C. for conferences with the Biden administration and congressional leaders to “discuss strategies for safeguarding healthcare access,” mentioned Anthony Cava, a spokesperson for the California Division of Well being Care Providers.
Cava wouldn’t elaborate on these methods. He mentioned the division “cannot speculate on the future of these programs under a new federal administration, but the Newsom administration is working to protect the health and well-being of all Californians.”
California has lengthy positioned itself as a nationwide chief in reproductive rights, actively opposing federal restrictions on abortion entry. The state’s proactive insurance policies, akin to safeguarding suppliers who serve out-of-state sufferers, stand in stark distinction to the targets of Mission 2025. As policymakers and advocates brace for the way Trump plans to “Make California Great Again,” they’re treating Mission 2025 as a looming chance.
Deliberate Parenthood, considered one of California’s main suppliers of reproductive healthcare providers for low-income communities, mentioned the group is making ready for “a variety of scenarios.”
Shelby McMichael, a spokesperson for Deliberate Parenthood Associates of California, mentioned “while specifics remain under wraps,” the group is prioritizing increasing California’s abortion supplier workforce, growing investments in abortion funds and infrastructure in addition to analyzing knowledge to “improve abortion care access and education.”
