Planned Parenthood of Greater New York (PPGNY) is facing a financial crisis due to Medicaid underfunding. The organization is millions of dollars short annually and urgently needs public and private funding to continue its critical services.
PPGNY has long partnered with the New York City Council, which has historically backed its work across the five boroughs. Now, the organization is calling on the Council for additional support, requesting an expansion of $2.5 million to help close its budget gap and maintain care for nearly 7,500 New Yorkers.
The funding request, presented at a City Council hearing on March 24, includes a $1.25 million expansion of the Sexual and Reproductive Health Initiative and an additional $1.25 million allocation through Speakers’ List Funding. PPGNY’s appeal to the Council is part of a broader push for financial relief, including a plea for increased grant funding in the New York State budget for the upcoming fiscal year.
“The state of sexual and reproductive care is at a breaking point – even here in New York,” said Dipal Shah, chief external affairs officer of Planned Parenthood of Greater New York. “Longstanding under-investment in reproductive health care, combined with soaring health care costs, workforce shortages, the havoc wreaked by the COVID pandemic, and care restrictions imposed in the wake of the Dobbs decision are limiting care access today.”
Shah also highlighted the impact of President Donald Trump’s second administration, which opposes universal women’s reproductive rights and has cut funding for organizations like Planned Parenthood. To counteract these financial setbacks, PPGNY seeks to bolster its resources through city support in the fiscal year 2026 budget.
“We are proud to provide critical care to New Yorkers at low or no cost, but we cannot do it alone,” Shah emphasized. “Our champions in elected office must step to truly invest in reproductive health access so we can be the city our communities deserve, especially in such a hostile national political climate. Here in New York, we must create an abortion ecosystem that is sustainable and equitable for all.”
Among the strongest voices backing PPGNY’s request is Brooklyn Council Member Shahana Hanif, who co-chairs the Council’s Progressive Caucus. She played a key role in establishing the nation’s largest municipal abortion access fund in response to the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade.
“With increasing threats to bodily autonomy at the federal level and across the country, it’s more important than ever that New York City invest in remaining a safe haven for safe and accessible sexual, reproductive, and gender-affirming healthcare,” Hanif said. “As attacks on reproductive rights and gender-affirming care escalate, it’s critical that we not only maintain but expand our commitment to ensuring that every person, regardless of income, immigration status, or where they come from, can access the care they need with dignity and without fear.”
Manhattan Council Members Carmen de la Rosa and Julie Menin, co-chairs of the Council’s Women’s Caucus, also voiced their support, underscoring the importance of reproductive health care funding.
“Reproductive health and access to quality care are pillars of the Women’s Caucus, and funding organizations like Planned Parenthood of Greater New York with programs prioritizing women’s reproductive health ensures access to essential care to the women of our city,” they said in a joint statement. “It also defends against harmful policies and upholds the fundamental human right to a woman’s bodily autonomy.”
While New York lawmakers have enacted legislation safeguarding the legal right to abortion—and voters have enshrined this right in the state constitution—Planned Parenthood argues that legal protections mean little without equitable access to care. Sustainable funding, the organization asserts, is essential to ensuring that New Yorkers can exercise their reproductive rights fully and without barriers.
