Opinion
Robin Sertell
Supreme Court Clears Path to Defund Planned Parenthood as ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ Takes a Byrd Bath
Supreme Court clears the way to defund Planned Parenthood—now it’s Montana’s turn
Jun 26, 2025

By Robin Sertell
Opinion Contributor
South Carolina just secured a win at the Supreme Court that paves the way for other states to defund Planned Parenthood. Simply stated, Americans shouldn’t have to foot the bill for other people’s abortions. While the Hyde Amendment is meant to prevent this from happening, Planned Parenthood has managed to rake in nearly $800 million of our hard-earned taxpayer dollars last year. This horrific use of federal taxpayer dollars comes as a shock to many of us who trust that the Hyde Amendment protects us from such abuses. The abortion giant shuffles this money around in a massive shell game, where they use much of the funding to pay for lobbyists to push for—you guessed it—more abortions.
Here in Montana, where Medicaid expansion just ate up a sizeable chunk of our state’s budget, we should be concerned. After all, 90% of our state’s Medicaid is paid for by federal dollars, and that money is used to legally abort babies. In South Carolina, a 2018 Executive Order prevented Medicaid from funding abortions, so the state pulled the plug on funding Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic sued since it is unable make ends meet without being underwritten by the government.
After a seven-year-long battle, South Carolina finally won. “Seven years ago, we took a stand to protect the sanctity of life and defend South Carolina’s authority and values—and today, we are finally victorious,” said Governor Henry McMaster. “The legality of my executive order prohibiting taxpayer dollars from being used to fund abortion providers like Planned Parenthood has been affirmed by the highest court in the land.” On behalf of Montanans for Life, we congratulate Gov. McMaster, and all South Carolinians, and thank them for this historic Supreme Court decision. Now, other states like Montana can stand on this ruling, and bring an end to our taxpayer dollars being used to fund the killing of the innocent.
In related national pro-life news, Elizabeth MacDonough, the U.S. Senate parliamentarian, has made several strikes to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (BBB) currently making its way through the Senate, citing the “Byrd rule.” Among the nixed provisions include defunding Planned Parenthood, which would free up $800 million in annual taxpayer dollars. Also removed are portions of the bill which would prevent Medicaid and CHIP dollars from going toward trans surgeries, measures that keep taxpayers from paying medical bills for illegal immigrants, and a crackdown on the Medicaid provider rate. Initial reports say that the provisions removed from the BBB could end up costing taxpayers nearly $500 billion, preventing the BBB from reaching it’s goal of cutting $2 trillion in taxpayer collected revenue. Republicans need at least 60 votes to bypass these blocks, or risk losing major items—or time, with the July 4 recess looming.
During the reconciliation process, the parliamentarian must apply a 1985 rule called the “Byrd Rule” to prohibit “extraneous” provisions from being brought in to a bill. The rule is named after the late Senator Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia. The rule says that every line item must have a “direct and substantive” impact on the budget. Indeed, removing abortions, trans surgeries and healthcare for illegals seems direct and substantive enough to hold water.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R–S.D.), was quoted saying that he will not seek to overrule MacDonough, as well as Sen. Lindsay Graham (R–S.C.) who said the GOP had “no intention of overruling her” offering that the caucus would “take another shot” at refining the language so it would past muster under the Byrd Rule review. Alternatively, Sen. Roger Marshall (R–KS) said regarding the parliamentarian’s moves, “In 2001, Majority Leader Trent Lott fired the Senate parliamentarian during reconciliation,” Marshall told Fox News Digital. “It’s 2025, during reconciliation, and we need to, again, fire the Senate parliamentarian.” The position of parliamentarian has no term limits and is not an elected, but appointed position—with MacDonough being appointed by former Democrat Majority Leader Harry Reid.
The appointment to parliamentarian is theoretically non-partisan. The question remains, who fights to fund illegals, trans surgeries, and abortions? Who refuses to give up taxpayer funding for such atrocities? The good Senator from Kansas may have a point. Instead of giving the BBB a “Byrd Bath,” I think the parliamentarian is all washed-up.
Robin Sertell is an author, speaker, and pro-life activist who was miraculously saved from three saline infusion abortion attempts before she was born. She currently serves as the Chair of Montanans for Life, a pro-life political advocacy group focusing on creating a culture of life in Montana.
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