It took the State of Alaska several months to finally comply with a new federal law that prohibits nonprofit abortion providers like Planned Parenthood from receiving any Medicaid funds.

On July 4 of last summer, President Trump signed the Big Beautiful Bill (H.R. 1), a wide-ranging policy package that included a one-year ban on Medicaid funding for certain nonprofit entities that commit elective abortions.

While pro-life advocates in Alaska and around the nation celebrated the funding ban for organizations that commit abortions for reasons other than rape, incest or supposed threats to the mother’s life, the State of Alaska continued to use Medicaid funds – up until Nov. 5, 2025 – to underwrite Planned Parenthood’s killing of preborn babies.

Due to a provision in the bill, abortion-providing 501(c)(3) nonprofits that took in more than $800,000 in Medicaid reimbursements in 2023 are ineligible to receive any Medicaid funding until July 4, 2026. Since Alaska-based Planned Parenthood affiliates are part of a larger multi-state nonprofit that received tens of millions in Medicaid dollars, they are now temporarily ineligible to get reimbursements through Alaska’s Medicaid program for any and all services they provide, including non-abortion services.

In 2024, Alaska footed the bill for 43% of all abortions through its Medicaid program, known as DenaliCare. That represents 528 unborn babies who were destroyed with public dollars.

According to Alaska Right to Life Director Pat Martin, it wasn’t until he began working behind the scenes, pressing Gov. Dunleavy’s office and top officials in the Alaska departments of health and law, that Alaska finally halted Medicaid reimbursements to Planned Parenthood.

According to the new federal rules, the drop-dead deadline for states to have ceased all Medicaid payouts to abortion groups like Planned Parenthood was Oct. 1, 2025. Many states implemented the block almost immediately after Trump signed the law in July. Other states waited until legal challenges played out around the country. On Sept. 11, a U.S. appeals court allowed the Trump’s administration to halt Medicaid funds to Planned Parenthood while legal challenges continue.

Alaska, however, waited nearly two more months, before finally ending Medicaid payments to Planned Parenthood.

In a series of emails responding to Alaska Watchman questions, Alaska Health Dept. Communications Director Shirley Sakaye noted that Planned Parenthood’s Medicaid billing was placed “on hold effective November 5, 2025, for all services.” This decision came after the state conducted “additional analysis of federal requirements,” the email stated.

A final determination on whether Alaska will ultimately foot the bill for payments that are now “on hold” will come after those claims are “evaluated and ultimately adjudicated in line with federal and state requirements,” Sakaye’s email added.

Medicaid payments that were issued to Planned Parenthood prior to Nov. 5 will be rescinded, the email noted.

Alaska, however, is still continuing to use its Medicaid program to fund abortions committed by non-Planned Parenthood entities such as hospitals and other medical providers. As Sakaye’s email explains, “The 2025 federal restriction is provider-specific and does not apply universally to all hospitals and medical providers.”

Additionally, Planned Parenthood continues to benefit financially from an agreement with the Alaska Health Department in which non-Medicaid funds are used to reimburse the abortion business for services such as cancer screenings and pap tests. This is part of Alaska’s federally funded Alaska Breast and Cervical Screening Assistance Program in which Alaska partners with roughly 80 different clinics and medical providers around the state – including Planned Parenthood – to provide these services.

Historically, Alaska’s practice of using its Medicaid program to pay abortionists to kill preborn babies goes back to a controversial 2001 Alaska Supreme Court opinion in which the justices asserted that it was a violation of the equal protection clause of the Alaska Constitution for the state to pay for live births while refusing to fund abortions.

Alaska’s Medicaid program is funded by both state and federal dollars. In order to tap Medicaid funds to reimburse Planned Parenthood for tens of thousands of elective abortions over the past 25 years, Alaska has had to utilize its annual state-funded contributions to Medicaid to get around the longstanding Hyde Amendment that prohibits the use of federal dollars to fund elective abortions outside of rape, incest or direct threats to the life of the mother.

In 2024, the State of Alaska footed the bill for 43% of all abortions through its Medicaid program. That represents 528 unborn babies who were destroyed with public dollars. Nationwide, Planned Parenthood’s most recent annual report revealed that it took in nearly $700 million in government “health services” reimbursements and grants, representing roughly 40% of the abortion giants total revenue.

Thanks to the Big Beautiful Bill, even state-funded contributions to Medicaid are now prohibited from going to Planned Parenthood. That means that until at least this coming July, Planned Parenthood will no longer receive any funding from Alaska for abortions, nor will it get Medicaid funds for any other services.

Nationwide, the cuts represent a significant financial blow to Planned Parenthood. The abortion giant has already shuttered dozens of clinics around the country, while pursuing ongoing legal actions.

Meanwhile, pro-life advocates are urging the Trump administration to pursue all legal avenues to permanently bar Planned Parenthood from all federal funding.

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