The ripple effect of President Donald Trump’s budget bill has cascaded into Planned Parenthood closing five clinics in California and laying off staff in other locations.
Although Planned Parenthood Mar Monte announced July 24 it was closing clinics in Gilroy, South San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Cruz and Madera, San Jose’s four locations will remain open. The nonprofit will be sunsetting three critical services across all its remaining locations — family medicine, behavioral health and prenatal care.
While The Alameda location remains open, 10 administrative staff who support the organization’s operations have been laid off, a spokesperson said. Across the Mar Monte affiliate 120 staff have been let go, including 62 from the clinic closures.
Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” prohibited Medicaid reimbursements to large nonprofit health care organizations that provide abortion care, a move Planned Parenthood describes as a “back-door ban on abortion.” However on Monday, a judge temporarily blocked Trump’s efforts to defund the organization, ordering Medicaid reimbursements to continue. Even so, a Planned Parenthood spokesperson said they remain cautious, as they expect Trump to appeal the decision.
“Despite this legal victory, (Planned Parenthood Mar Monte) doesn’t believe federal funding for Medicaid (Medi-Cal in California) and for sexual and reproductive health care will be available in the future,” Andrew Adams, chief of staff, told San José Spotlight. “With 3.5 years remaining of the Trump administration, (Planned Parenthood) is strategically planning for a sustainable business model that will keep as many doors open as possible — without the security of federal funding for Medicaid reimbursement.”
Adams said the 10 laid off workers in San Jose supported clinic operations. There is less need for these roles due to fewer clinics.
“At this time, we don’t anticipate any additional health center layoffs or closures in San Jose,” Adams said.
According to a fact-sheet, the organization will lose about $100 million — more than half of the annual revenue — should the Trump administration win against the temporary block on defunding Planned Parenthood. More than 80% of its California patients use Medi-Cal.
Planned Parenthood Mar Monte is the largest Planned Parenthood affiliate in the nation. After the closures, it now has 30 health centers across California and Nevada.
The Gilroy clinic served 3,509 patients this past fiscal year and offered services besides abortions, including prenatal and postpartum care, STD treatment, vaccinations and preventative care.
“Planned Parenthood has long been a critical access point for so many different preventative services, pap smears or detection services,” Darcie Green, executive director at Latinas Contra Cancer, told San José Spotlight. “To see the rolling back of any services, particularly in a place like South County, is incredibly cruel and angering and saddening.”
Green said the closure of the Gilroy clinic as well as the sunsetting of services like family medicine, behavioral health and prenatal care will be felt across the county, possibly leading to longer wait times.
“We know that it is going to be low-income folks, people of color, people on Medi-Cal who suffer,” Green said. “But also based on what we’re facing now, even if you don’t get your care at Planned Parenthood, even if you don’t get your care through subsidized health insurance, these type of closures are going to impact you too. We have to think of our health care as connected, regardless of where you get it. It’s an ecosystem.”
Green said when clinics and services close, the county-owned health care system is the safety net many low-income people rely on.
“The broader community really (needs) to rally behind our health care safety net, our clinic systems and our public hospitals,” Green said.
Santa Clara County Supervisor Betty Duong said the closure of the Gilroy clinic means more people are going to flock to St. Louise Regional Hospital in Gilroy for services. Duong encourages residents to continue seeking care at county-owned hospitals and clinics.
“When the county bought that hospital in 2020 we had no idea COVID was coming. We had no idea that this attack on women’s reproductive services and health access was coming,” Duong told San José Spotlight. “So in some ways, I feel like, dear God, right time, right place, but I wish that we didn’t have to be prepared for something like this.”
Contact Joyce Chu at [email protected] or @joyce_speaks on X.
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