Nicole Clegg, CEO and President of Planned Parenthood of Northern New england.
January 20th marks the one-year anniversary of President Trump’s first year of his second term. For Planned Parenthood of Northern New England (PPNNE), these first 12 months were marred with a series of attacks against the organization, its services and thousands of patients in the region.
In 2025, the Trump Administration and Republicans in Congress targeted PPNNE’s funding in two key ways: by withholding already-appropriated funding through Title X, the nation’s only federal program dedicated to providing family planning and basic perventive care to people who are uninsured, underinsured and have low incomes and by barring Planned Parenthood from being rembursed for services provided to patients on Medicaid.
These attacks created a multi-million-dollar gap for the non-profit health care organization, which serves patients on Medicaid.
These attacks created a muti-million-dollar gap for the non-profit health care organization, which serves patients in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. For PPNNE Maine health centers, this amounted to more than $1.3 million annually and jeopardized care for 8,200 patients.
In addition to attcking Planned Parenthood for providing abortion in states where it is legal, as it is in Maine, the Trump Administration also took steps to undermine protections for the LGHTQ+community. These included rolling back protections against discrimmination for gender identity and sexual orientation, eliminating nearly all LGBTQ+ and HIV related content on federal webpages and using exeutive orders to attack gender-affirming care. PPNNE is proud to be one of the region’s largest providers of health care for the LGBTQ+ community including by providing gender-affirming care.
But PPNNE has managed to remain open and serving patients across our region. The organization continues to welcome Medicaid and Title X patients refusing to pass on the harm of losing access to this care for its patients. This has protected access to cancer screenings, birth control, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, wellness exams and more.
PPNNE’s care and commitment continues while attacks stretch into 2026. This week, the Republican Study Committee, the conservative caucus of US House of Republicans, released its roadmap for the 2026 federal budget reconciliation package, including a proposal to make an unconstitutional “defunding” of Planned Parenthood permanent.
“When I look back at this past year, I am extremel proud of PPNE’s resilience and dedication to our mission. What we experienced didn’t just impact our organization, it caused a lot of fear and confusion for our patients. Countless patients contacted us to ask if Planned Parenthood was still open and if they could still come in for care. That’s exactly what these attacks were designed to do – cause panic and ultimately try to shut down Planned Parenthood,” said Nicole Clegg, President and CEO of PPNNE. Previously Ms. Clegg served as the popular spokeswoman for the City of Portland.
“It’s been very difficult but we have weathered these attacks and not once passed the intended harm onto our patients. For now, PPNNE is not making an changes to the way we deliver our care. But this is not sustainable long term. No organization can serve patients forever without the heath care reimbursements it is entitled to. That’s why we are calling on our state leaders to act and to ensure ongoing state partnership to safeguard patient access to lifesaving health care now and into the future,” Ms. Clegg ended her statement.