In a 3-2 vote Tuesday, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors directed county counsel to support multiple lawsuits filed by Planned Parenthood and California Attorney General Rob Bonta to roll back a “defund provision” in H-R 1, also known as the Big Beautiful Bill.
That provision prohibits Medicaid, known in California as Medi-Cal, from reimbursing nonprofit health centers that also offer abortion services.
It’s been against the law to use federal funds for abortion since 1977.
Terra Lawson-Remer, chair of the board, sponsored the measure. She spoke at a news conference before the board meeting, saying, “We are here today because Donald Trump is trying to take basic health care away from tens of thousands of San Diegans."
Lawson-Remer said of the nearly 900,000 San Diego county residents that rely on Medicaid for their health coverage, more than 32,000 of them use that coverage to obtain a whole host of services from Planned Parenthood, including cancer screenings and birth control.
Planned Parenthood patient Victoria Lara said the fallout from not being able to use Medi-Cal at Planned Parenthood is frightening.
“I myself have counted on Planned Parenthood for compassionate and affordable sexual and reproductive health care. If I didn’t have Planned Parenthood, it would have devastating consequences for myself and for hundreds of thousands of other patients across San Diego county," Lara said.
California is one of 23 states that sued the Administration in July to restore the ability to use Medicaid funds for services at Planned Parenthood. A federal appeals court heard arguments in the case earlier this month, and a decision is pending. In the meantime, unless and until the case is resolved in their favor, no Medicaid patients anywhere in the United States can obtain any services at Planned Parenthood.
Tuesday's "yes" votes came from Lawson-Remer and supervisors Monica Montgomery Steppe and Paloma Aguirre.
Their colleagues Joel Anderson and Jim Desmond voted no.
In an emailed statement, Anderson said his colleagues tell him that there isn't enough money to pave all of the roads in his district, so "I don't see how we can afford to have staff dabble outside of their lane."
Desmond didn't offer a formal reason for his opposition.
Bonta said he was "grateful to now have the backing of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors.''
"Defunding Planned Parenthood, as President Trump and those who work for him are trying to do, means that millions of individuals will lose access to those essential medical services — already, Planned Parenthood locations have closed altogether and others are limiting services," Bonta added. "We must continue to fight back.''
