1. United States
2. N.J.
3. Letter

The horrifying mistreatment by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents of pregnant and nursing mothers in detention facilities is coming under increased scrutiny from both advocates and members of the federal judiciary. In a new report from federal judges are calling out ICE and reporting that pregnant women are being housed in cramped and ill-equipped ICE facilities while pregnant. These conditions threaten their health and have, in some cases, been followed by miscarriages. Other judges report stories of nursing mothers who have been separated from breastfed infants. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is supposed to provide appropriate medical care to pregnant people, but judges say it’s not clear whether ICE is following those procedures, instead leaving pregnant women without the care they need.  also reports that ICE has issued a directive to put all pregnant children into a single facility in Texas, which immigration advocates have warned has inadequate medical care. These girls, who are as young as 13, are experiencing high-risk pregnancies and need specialized care, including access to abortion care. Historically, pregnant girls would be placed in shelters and foster homes organized by the Office of Refugee Resettlement. Instead, ICE is putting them all into a facility owned by a for-profit prison in Texas, where abortion is banned, and health care professionals are not given sufficient access to ensure safe pregnancy care.  Regardless of immigration status, everyone deserves access to the care they need. At Planned Parenthood, immigrants are essential to our communities — and make our country better, stronger, and more vibrant.   It’s been almost six months since the “defunding” of Planned Parenthood by President Trump and his GOP allies and now millions of patients across the country are blocked from using their Medicaid insurance to get essential health care at Planned Parenthood health centers.  Devastatingly, this denial of coverage — coupled with the overall difficulty of running an abortion clinic in President Trump’s America — is leading to the closure of a record number of abortion clinics, especially in access states, according to new reporting “Clinics are left with ‘unsustainable financial realities’...‘When a health center is forced to close, all patients lose access to their trusted provider, and entire communities are left unable to get high-quality reproductive health care, including abortion in many places,” Angela Vasquez-Giroux, Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s own Vice President of Communications, told CNN’s Deidre McPhillips for the story.  “There were 753 brick-and-mortar abortion clinics in the US at the end of 2025, according to a by the Guttmacher Institute — 54 fewer than in 2020, including a net loss of 12 abortion clinics since March 2024,” CNN reports.  Indeed, PPFA and Planned Parenthood Action Fund recently released (https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/pressroom/planned-parenthood-federation-of-america-and-the-action-fund-release-new-report-fact-sheet-detailing-harm-of-president-trumps-attacks-on-that shows 51 Planned Parenthood health centers closed in 2025 — leaving patients with fewer options for and higher travel costs for essential health care, including birth control, abortion, cancer screenings, STI testing and treatment, primary care, and behavioral health services. Half of Planned Parenthood’s overall health center closures and a majority of rural health center closures happened in the Midwest, which is heartbreaking and sadly in line with CNN’s reporting that, “Since the Dobbs decision, the number of people who travel out-of-state for abortion care each year has doubled — and about a quarter of those who travel go to Illinois.”  Even in these tough times, PPFA and the Action Fund will never stop fighting for the ability of all people to get the care they need and deserve.