61 Years of Medicaid and the Vulnerable
Submitted by Free & Just
July 30, 2026
WASHINGTON, DC - Today marks the 61st anniversary of Medicaid being signed into law. The program is a lifeline for pregnant patients, working families, and rural communities across the country who need comprehensive health care — including reproductive care. Despite Medicaid’s critical role in making health care accessible to millions of Americans, the Trump administration gutted funding for the program. As a result, rural hospitals are shutting down at record rates and labor and delivery units are closing their doors, putting women and families at greater risk in communities already facing severe health care disparities.
Not only have Republicans weakened our health care system, and cut vital programs like Medicaid, but Republicans in Congress are passing policies that drive up costs for everyday Americans. Notably, polling shows that Americans in the battleground overwhelmingly oppose cuts to Medicaid and nearly 70% of Americans in the battleground support access to Medicaid.
More than 74 million Americans rely on Medicaid for health care, including essential reproductive health services like birth control, wellness exams, STI tests and treatment, breast and cervical cancer screenings, and more. The program provides coverage for nearly 1 in 4 rural residents, including 23.3% of women of childbearing age living in rural areas. Medicaid covers nearly half of all rural births and provides essential financial stability to the hospitals and clinics that rural areas rely on to access care.
To mark the anniversary of Medicaid and spotlight dangers of nationwide health care cuts, Veronica Ingham, Managing Director for Free & Just released the following statement:
Republican Medicaid cuts are forcing hospitals to close their doors, leaving Americans across the country vulnerable and without access to the care they need. Let’s be clear, forcing pregnant patients to jump through hurdles and travel hours for essential care is dangerous and deadly. Republican lawmakers are fueling a health care crisis, and families across the country will continue to suffer the consequences. |
Bottomline: Cuts to Medicaid have already resulted in hospital closures and reduced access to all types of care, proving catastrophic—especially for people living in rural communities. Further attacks on health care access and affordability will only lead to even more dangerous outcomes for patients seeking reproductive care nationwide.
Below are bios of patients, physicians, or advocates about their experience with Medicaid or accessing reproductive care.
IDAHO:
Dr. Caitlin Gustafson, McCall, Idaho: Dr. Caitlin Gustafson is a family physician in McCall, Idaho and the co-president of the Idaho Coalition for Safe Healthcare.
LOUISIANA:
Nancy Davis, Baton Rouge, LA: Nancy Davis was 10 weeks pregnant in 2022 when doctors diagnosed her baby with acrania, a fatal condition that was also dangerous to Nancy’s health. Nancy was forced to travel nearly 1,500 miles to New York to receive abortion care. Nancy received an abortion at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Manhattan after raising nearly $40,000 via GoFundMe to cover travel and care costs. She founded the Nancy Davis Foundation after this experience, which connects women with the health care they need, while aiming to restore reproductive rights across the United States. Nancy was a plaintiff in Birthmark v. Louisiana, a lawsuit that challenged a Louisiana law classifying abortion medication to Louisiana’s Controlled Dangerous Substances list.
NEW JERSEY:
Dawn Ericksen, Palmyra, NJ: Dawn Ericksen became pregnant in 2011 while working part-time and struggling with an opioid addiction. She couldn't afford the in-clinic abortion procedure on her own and relied on a friend's help to pay for care. Dawn has now been sober for more than 10 years and works as an attorney. In 2020, she joined an amicus brief to the Supreme Court in June Medical Services v. Russo that included an excerpt of her story. The Court struck down Louisiana's abortion restriction, reaffirming the legal standard courts had used for decades to evaluate abortion laws.
NEW YORK:
Cassandra Klewicki, Albany, NY: Cassandra Klewicki had two abortions before Dobbs: one in Buffalo, New York in 2010 and one in Arizona in 2017. She now serves on the board of the Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic Action Fund, is a member of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s Speakers Bureau, and is an intake coordinator for the New York Abortion Access Fund. where she supervises case managers and supports complex cases, including out-of-state patients.
NORTH CAROLINA:
Dr. Caroline Sloan, Durham, NC: Dr. Caroline Sloan is a General Internist doctor at Duke University, primarily working with adult patients who are low-income and often on Medicaid. She also conducts research on patient access to care and the high out-of-pocket costs of care that patients pay.
PENNSYLVANIA:
Alliyson Feldmann, Pittsburgh, PA: In 2017, Alliyson Feldmann was 30 weeks pregnant and living in rural New York with her one-year-old daughter when she suffered a stroke. Concerned for her health, Feldmann wanted to induce labor and deliver her baby early, but was unable to find care in New York. Alliyson delivered her baby at 42 weeks after more than two months spent bed-ridden and unable to work while amassing overwhelming medical debt. Following this experience, Alliyson's family relocated to Pennsylvania for financial reasons.
TENNESSEE:
Charlotte Miller, Kingston Springs, TN: Charlotte Miller was pregnant with her second child in December 2023 when she learned that her baby was developing with no brain or skull and would not survive. Under Tennessee’s near-total abortion ban, Miller was forced to wait two weeks for her son's heart to stop before being eligible for care. After her water broke, doctors prescribed mifepristone to aid in labor, allowing Charlotte to hold her son.
OHIO:
Amber Calvin, Hamilton, OH: Amber Calvin had an abortion at a local Planned Parenthood clinic in 2021. She is a member of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio's Speakers Bureau, and credits her abortion with empowering her to build the life and family she has today.
WISCONSIN:
Dr. Kristen Lyerly, De Pere, WI: Dr. Kristin Lyerly is an OB/GYN specializing in care for rural and underserved populations who has traveled to Arizona and Minnesota to provide care. She was one of three intervenors in the attorney general's lawsuit over Wisconsin's 1849 abortion ban, a case that led to a judge ruling the law does not apply to consensual abortions. She ran for the Wisconsin State Assembly in 2020 and for Wisconsin's 8th Congressional District in 2024.
Free & Just is fighting to stop attacks on reproductive freedom and rights. We’re working with people across the country to share real stories to show the devastating consequences of attacks on our reproductive freedom. We all deserve the right to control our bodies and lives. That’s why we’re sharing our stories, raising our voices, and fighting for our future.
