An Obama-appointed federal judge Monday blocked the Trump administration from cutting off Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood, which was a key element of his One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
US District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston issued a preliminary injunction to stop the feds from halting funds to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America for even non-abortion services such as birth control, citing the First Amendment.
Federal funding for abortion is already prohibited under the Hyde Amendment.
“Restricting Members’ ability to provide healthcare services threatens an increase in unintended pregnancies and attendant complications because of reduced access to effective contraceptives, and an increase in undiagnosed and untreated STIs [sexually transmitted infections],” she wrote in a 58-page opinion.
“Legislative context corroborates Plaintiffs’ contention that Congress drafted these criteria
with the intent to punish Planned Parenthood Federation and its Members,” the judge said.
Nestled in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which passed Congress and was signed into law by President Trump earlier this month, was a provision to cut off Medicaid funding for groups “primarily engaged in family planning services, reproductive health, and related medical care” that perform abortions.
The GOP megalaw enacts a one-year ban on Medicaid funding to health-care nonprofits that provide abortions and garnered over $800,000 in federal funding back in 2023.
Medicaid is a program that provides government-funded health insurance to an estimated 70 million low-income Americans.
While federal funding for abortion is already prohibited, for decades, healthcare providers that perform abortions, such as Planned Parenthood clinics, have received reimbursements from programs such as Medicaid for non-abortion services.
Last week, Talwani issued a more tailored preliminary injunction blocking the administration from enforcing the provision against 10 Planned Parenthood clinics that supposedly don’t perform abortions.
On Monday, she went a step further by expanding that block to Planned Parenthood clinics across the country, concluding that plaintiffs showed a “substantial likelihood” that they will succeed in proving that the provision to cut off funding is unconstitutional.
“In ordering relief, the court is not enjoining the federal government from regulating abortion and is not directing the federal government to fund elective abortions or any healthcare service not otherwise eligible for Medicaid coverage,” the judge said.
“The court’s order does not require the federal government to spend money not already appropriated for Medicaid or any other funds.”
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Planned Parenthood is not named in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act provision, but the organization has argued that it was targeted by Republicans and cited their public remarks to that effect.
The prominent abortion provider argued that the megalaw essentially amounts to retaliation in violation of the First Amendment, pointing to the 10 clinics that don’t perform the controversial procedure.
“Plaintiffs are likely to succeed in establishing that [the law] unconstitutionally conditions Medicaid reimbursements on these Members foregoing their First Amendment right of association,” Talwani wrote.
