Hey y’all, 

As we get closer to Election Day, the investigative team at CalMatters has been finding ways to stay grounded in what’s at stake and localize national issues. So, Monique O. Madan, one of our investigative reporters, and I have spent the last several weeks reading through Project 2025, the 900-page transition plan for the next Republican president. 

Mo’s new story out this week illustrates the ultimatum Project 2025 issues California: start tracking and reporting abortion data to the federal government or risk losing billions in Medicaid funding for reproductive health services. 

Roger Severino, the director of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights under Trump, authored this plan. Although Donald Trump keeps trying to distance himself from Project 2025, including at Tuesday’s debate, nearly every chapter is written by formers in his administration, like Severino.

California is one of just three states along with Maryland and New Hampshire that does not require abortion providers to report patient data to the federal government. But under Severino’s plan, all 50 states would be required to submit the following to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

• the reason for the abortion, 
• fetus’ gestational age, 
• the birthing parent’s state of residence, 
• whether the procedure was surgical or pill-induced
• and more

Severino singled out California in particular for protecting the procedure and also becoming a destination for people in states where abortion is banned.

“Because liberal states have now become sanctuaries for abortion tourism, [the Department of Health and Human Services] should use every available tool, including the cutting of funds, to ensure that every state reports exactly how many abortions take place within its borders, at what gestational age of the child, for what reason, the mother’s state of residence, and by what method,” reads the chapter on abortion reporting. 

Experts told Mo this kind of surveillance could be a deterrent to already vulnerable populations. Losing billions in Medicaid, the single largest payer of maternity care in the country, would also jeopardize comprehensive services like contraceptives, counseling, reproductive health education, prenatal care, labor and delivery, postpartum care, STI and cancer testing, and infertility treatments. 

“If a state like California decided to not comply with those abortion reporting requirements, it could lose billions of dollars and would likely hamstring the ability of the state to provide sexual and reproductive healthcare services,” said Cat Duffy, a policy analyst at the National Health Law Program. “Because while I think that there are states that would try to compensate with state funds, it’s just a lot of money to make up and that it could potentially be really devastating.”

If you have any thoughts or tips for Mo in the future, here’s how you can reach her: 

Monique O. Madan

madan@themarkup.org 

(786) 369 – 6249

P.O. Box 832155

Miami, FL 33283

Thanks for reading, 

Ko Bragg, Investigative Editor, CalMatters