California’s legislative leaders have once again made their priorities unmistakably clear: protecting and expanding the abortion industry, at taxpayer expense, is at the top of their priority list. 

Late last week, Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Salinas) and Senate President Pro Tempore Monique Limón (D-Santa Barbara) announced new budget legislation, Assembly Bill 106 and Senate Bill 106, that would fast-track $90 million in one-time General Fund spending to “reproductive health care providers like Planned Parenthood,” California’s largest abortion provider. (Original press release)

This proposal goes $30 million beyond what Governor Gavin Newsom already included in his January budget and comes on top of more than $140 million previously appropriated by the Legislature in recent years for abortion-related services and infrastructure.

A Bailout for the Abortion Industry

Legislative leaders are framing AB 106 and SB 106 as a defensive move, claiming California must step in to offset federal Medicaid funding restrictions enacted under former President Donald Trump’s tax and spending legislation.

But make no mistake: this is not about “women’s health care.” This is about shoring up Planned Parenthood’s bottom line after federal courts ruled the Trump administration could legally withhold Medicaid reimbursements from abortion providers.

According to an Associated Press report published this week, Planned Parenthood has now voluntarily dropped its legal challenge against those Medicaid funding restrictions after repeated losses in federal court. (AP News article)

The AP reports that at least 23 Planned Parenthood clinics have closed nationwide as a result of the funding changes, with more than 50 closing last year, evidence that when abortion providers are no longer propped up by taxpayer dollars, many cannot sustain themselves.

Rather than ask why an organization that claims to provide “essential health care” cannot survive without massive public subsidies, California lawmakers are demanding that taxpayers cover the losses.

Planned Parenthood Is Not a Neutral Health Provider

Despite repeated claims by legislative leaders, Planned Parenthood is not just another health clinic. It is the largest abortion provider in California, performing tens of thousands of abortions every year while aggressively lobbying for expanded abortion access, taxpayer funding, and protection from those states that have outlawed abortion.

While federal law technically prohibits direct taxpayer funding of most abortions, Planned Parenthood has long relied on fungibility, using government reimbursements for other services to subsidize its abortion business.

As the AP notes, nationwide, “nearly half of Planned Parenthood’s patients rely on Medicaid,” and according to Rivas, more than 80% of 1.3 million California annual Planned Parenthood patient visits are reimbursed through Medi-Cal. When that funding stream is threatened, the organization turns immediately to state lawmakers for a bailout.

California Families Pay the Price

At a time when California families are struggling with high housing costs, rising gas prices, failing public schools, and persistent homelessness, legislative leaders are racing to send another $90 million to an organization that exists to end the lives of unborn children.

California Family Council Vice President Greg Burt condemned the proposal, calling it a moral and fiscal failure.

“When a society rejects God and the inherent value of human life, this is where it leads: calling the destruction of children ‘care’ and calling massive abortion subsidies ‘compassion.’ These bills reveal just how dark our moral vision becomes when we abandon the truth about human dignity.”

The Bigger Picture: Abortion as State Policy

Speaker Rivas made clear that this legislation is only the latest chapter in California’s effort to position itself as a national abortion hub, promising that when federal funding is restricted, the state will “continue to act.”

In plain terms, California is committing itself to replacing federal abortion funding with state dollars, regardless of court rulings, public opposition, or budgetary strain.

This approach treats abortion not as a tragic last resort, but as a state-protected industry, one that must be insulated from accountability, competition, and financial consequences.

A Call for Moral Clarity

Scripture reminds us that government exists to promote justice and protect the innocent, not to subsidize their destruction:

“Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter.” (Proverbs 24:11, ESV)

California’s leaders are doing the opposite. They are racing to rescue Planned Parenthood while ignoring the lives lost and the families harmed in the process.

California Family Council will continue to speak out against AB 106 and SB 106 and urge lawmakers to reject the false narrative that abortion equals health care. Our state can, and must, do better by women, families, and the unborn.