The Trump Presidency Timeline

The Trump administration just scored another "pro-life" victory by making it harder for poor people to stay alive. A federal appeals court has agreed to let the White House cut off Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood in 22 states and DC, greenlighting a provision in the GOP’s hilariously named One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The law targets any tax-exempt organization that provides family planning and also performs abortions if it received more than $800,000 in Medicaid funds in 2023 — otherwise known as "we wrote this for Planned Parenthood and didn’t bother to hide it".

Because nothing says limited government like Congress quietly stuffing a bespoke vendetta into a massive tax-and-spending bill, then retroactively booby-trapping state Medicaid programs. Judge Indira Talwani had blocked the scheme as an unconstitutional, retroactive condition that states couldn’t have anticipated when CMS signed off on their plans — but the First Circuit’s Democratic-appointed panel stepped in to say, actually, Congress can absolutely yank the rug out from under low-income patients whenever it feels like it.

Planned Parenthood says this little act of legislative spite has already helped close at least 20 health centers and could ultimately shutter up to 200 — mostly in blue states where abortion is still technically legal, which is the entire point. Federal dollars already can’t pay for abortions, so the Medicaid reimbursements being cut are for STI tests, cancer screenings, and contraception for over 1.5 million visits a year. In other words, Republicans found a way to make it harder to prevent unwanted pregnancies in the name of stopping abortion, then called it a win for life. But sure, tell us again how this is about "healthcare" and not about punishing women and the poor for existing.

In the grand 2025 patriarchy recap, Donald Trump’s second term shows up like a wrecking ball made of fetal personhood and Hobby Lobby coupons. One of his first moves was to slam the Global Gag Rule back into place, cutting off U.S. aid to any group that dares even whisper the word “abortion.” The State Department then went the extra mile for the culture of life by letting between $10m and $40m worth of contraceptives simply expire rather than send them to women who might actually use them. According to the Center for Reproductive Rights, that little tantrum could mean more than a million unintended pregnancies and thousands of maternal deaths – but sure, tell us more about how this is about “protecting women.” At home, Trump 2.0 has been busy turning the U.S. into a live-action Handmaid’s Tale reboot. There were sustained attacks on birth control access and abortion pills, because nothing says "small government" like micromanaging women’s uteri via federal regulation and friendly lawsuits from Texas and Florida. Meanwhile, some prominent MAGA types have moved on to asking whether women should even be allowed to vote anymore – in other words, they’ve stopped pretending this isn’t about rolling back a century of basic rights. Abroad, the reinstated gag rule and weaponized aid policy help undermine reproductive healthcare globally, proving once again that this administration’s idea of foreign policy is exporting American misogyny at scale. And just to really drive home how little bodily autonomy matters in Trump’s America, Georgia law turned a brain-dead woman, Adriana Smith, into a state-mandated human incubator, keeping her on life support against her family’s wishes to carry a pregnancy doctors said was unlikely to result in a healthy baby. The infant, born prematurely and still unable to breathe unaided months later, is the perfect metaphor for this administration’s pro-life agenda: maximum suffering, minimum care, and zero interest in what happens after birth. But don’t worry, the patriarchy assures us this is all about “family values” and “freedom” – just not for women, pregnant people, or anyone who thought democracy included them.

Trump and the GOP finally found a health care efficiency model they like: shut down real clinics and replace them with prayer and pamphlets. About 50 Planned Parenthood centers have closed this year after Trump administration and Republican efforts to strip them of government funding — not for performing abortions with federal money (which was already illegal), but for daring to provide basic reproductive health care to some two million mostly low-income patients. In Ames, Iowa, the Planned Parenthood that served thousands of Iowa State students for 50 years is gone, and in its place steps Obria Medical Clinic, a "Christ-centered" outfit whose business model is to, in their own words, "attract women out of Planned Parenthood." In other words: swap comprehensive medical care for a limited menu of tests, counseling, and absolutely no abortions or meaningful contraception. The comparison chart is almost parody: Planned Parenthood offers STI testing and treatment, contraception, checkups, and cancer screenings; most crisis pregnancy centers offer some tests, a vibes-based ultrasound, and a heaping dose of ideology. Because nothing says "pro-life" like shutting down the last-resort provider for poor women’s cancer screenings and birth control, then handing the keys to groups that explicitly refuse to provide the full range of medical options. This is what the conservative dream of "defunding Planned Parenthood" looks like in practice: a deliberate policy choice to trade medicine for ministry, public health for proselytizing, and evidence-based care for a national network of soft-focus theocracy clinics.

The Trump administration has gutted the federal school safety committee because, clearly, protecting kids from gun violence is just a luxury we can’t afford. Why tackle actual problems when you can save time and money ignoring them instead? Critics are left wondering if “thoughts and prayers” are now the official school safety strategy. After all, what’s a little more chaos in classrooms when there are tax cuts to focus on?

In a controversial move, the Trump administration is pushing to abolish the Pentagon's Civilian Protection Center of Excellence, an office dedicated to minimizing civilian casualties in U.S. military operations. Established in 2023 after decades of civilian deaths in conflict zones, the center has provided commanders with critical tools and information to reduce unintended harm. Critics warn that disbanding this office—or defunding it into irrelevance—signals a shift toward more aggressive, less accountable military strategies. Trump’s nominee for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has championed "taking the gloves off" in combat, raising concerns about an uptick in civilian casualties under this policy shift. While some argue this change increases operational freedom, others stress that protecting civilians is a moral and strategic imperative.

perfectly encapsulating the "pro-life" ethos of his party, Trump has signed an executive order mandating the Attorney General to seek the death penalty whenever possible. Got an undocumented person accused of a crime? Death penalty. A law enforcement officer tragically killed? Death penalty. It’s as if Trump’s approach to “public safety” is to make executions a national pastime. Critics are calling it cruel and discriminatory, while supporters insist it’s about justice—because nothing says “valuing life” like expanding the ways to end it. If irony had a face, it would be this executive order. It's not like we've ever gotten this wrong before, right?