The Trump administration’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) threatens to close down hundreds of women’s health institutions across the country in a bid to give the rich and famous a larger tax break.
On July 4, US President Donald Trump, 79, signed in a budget reconciliation bill known commonly as the OBBBA.
This federal statute was passed by the 119th United States Congress and introduces a plethora of tax changes with broad implications for US residents.
Those in line for a staggering 21 percent tax cut will see the benefits of the controversial bill. However, women across the country could suffer due to the Republicans’ slashing of health services and insurance funding.
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Here's everything you need to know about Trump's bill and its implications.
What is the One Big Beautiful Bill Act?
The OBBBA cleared the House by a tight 218–214 margin hours before Trump signed it into law at a White House-based ceremony on 4 July.
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This victory was achieved despite a handful of Republicans and all Senate Democrats initially voting against the legislation.
This newly passed bill makes permanent both individual and corporate provisions that were enacted by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) in Trump’s first term in the White House.
It also provides new ‘temporary tax provisions’ so that the US leaders’ campaign promises, such as deductions for tipped wages, overtime pay, and auto loan interest, can be fulfilled.
Other significant parts of the bill that will interest MAGA supporters include the additional $150 billion allocated to military defence features, the $170 billion extra to spend on border security, and major tax breaks for the wealthy.
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There’s so much more that the OBBBA has outlined across 1038 pages, and not all of it is positive.
How will the One Big Beautiful Bill Act impact women’s health?
The sweeping bill is set to make historic cuts to Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and also change the Affordable Care Act marketplaces, the BBC reported.
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The outlet also states that the Congressional Budget Office estimates that nearly 12 million Americans could lose their health coverage by the end of 2034 as a result of the 12 percent Medicaid spending cut.
Teen Vogue wrote that the bill will ‘effectively defund Planned Parenthood by banning all federal Medicaid payments to any provider that offers abortion services — even to non-Medicaid patients’.
Around one million Planned Parenthood patients with Medicaid will reportedly be ‘blocked’ from getting smear tests and mammograms in the United States, the outlet reported.
It’s also thought the bill could force around one in three Planned Parenthood health centres nationwide to shut their doors.
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According to the clinic’s website, there are nearly 600 in operation across the country - meaning a whopping 200 Planned Parenthoods could be closed due to funding cuts.
This 200 would include clinics in the 31 states where abortion is broadly legal, such as California, Maine and Arizona.
As well as over $1 trillion being cut from Medicaid, the OBBBA has introduced new work requirements to access healthcare.
These include beneficiaries aged 18–64 having to work at least 80 hours per month, compared to 18–54 under current law, NewsWeek stated.
Temporary block on revoking Medicaid made by Planned Parenthood
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Planned Parenthood has responded to the Trump administration’s sweeping domestic policy bill by filing a complaint in Boston federal court, Reuters reported.
"The true design of the Defund Provision is simply to express disapproval of, attack, and punish Planned Parenthood, which plays a particularly prominent role in the public debate over abortion,” the nonprofit said last week (July 7).
Hours later, The New York Times stated that the organisation had won a temporary injunction allowing its clinics to continue receiving Medicaid payments, beginning on 7 July.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani issued the temporary injunction, which is set to expire within 14 days of the ruling.
On Friday (11 July), the Trump administration asked Judge Talwani to dissolve the ‘highly unusual’ temporary order, remarking that the 64-year-old provided no explanation as to why she blocked part of the OBBBA.
However, the official claimed the order was ‘necessary to prevent disruptions to health care’ until she could hear arguments on 18 July.
Topics: Donald Trump, Politics, US News, Health, Women's Health
Ella Scott