Judge blocks Trump administration's efforts to defund Planned Parenthood
[July 29, 2025]
By KIMBERLEE KRUESI
A federal judge on Monday ruled Planned Parenthood clinics nationwide
must continue to be reimbursed for Medicaid funding as the nation’s
largest abortion provider fights President Donald Trump’s administration
over efforts to defund the organization in his signature tax
legislation.
The new order replaces a previous edict handed down by U.S. District
Judge Indira Talwani in Boston last week. Talwani initially granted a
preliminary injunction specifically blocking the government from cutting
Medicaid payments to Planned Parenthood members that didn’t provide
abortion care or didn’t meet a threshold of at least $800,000 in
Medicaid reimbursements in a given year.
“Patients are likely to suffer adverse health consequences where care is
disrupted or unavailable,” Talwani wrote in her Monday order. “In
particular, 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.”
A provision in Trump’s tax bill instructed the federal government to end
Medicaid payments for one year to abortion providers that received more
than $800,000 from Medicaid in 2023, even to those like Planned
Parenthood that also offer medical services like contraception,
pregnancy tests and STD testing.
Although Planned Parenthood is not specifically named in the statute,
which went into effect July 4, the organization’s leaders say it was
meant to affect their nearly 600 centers in 48 states. However, a major
medical provider in Maine and likely others have also been hit.
In her Monday order, Talwani said that the court was “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.” Instead, Talwani said
that her decision would block the federal government from excluding
groups like Planned Parenthood from Medicaid reimbursements when they
have demonstrated a substantial likelihood of success in their legal
challenge.
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A Missouri and American flag fly outside Planned Parenthood in St.
Louis, June 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)
 In its lawsuit, Planned Parenthood
had argued that they would be at risk of closing nearly 200 clinics
in 24 states if they are cut off from Medicaid funds. They estimated
this would result in more than 1 million patients losing care.
“We’re suing the Trump administration over this
targeted attack on Planned Parenthood health centers and the
patients who rely on them for care,” said Planned Parenthood’s
president and CEO Alexis McGill Johnson in a statement on Monday.
“This case is about making sure that patients who use Medicaid as
their insurance to get birth control, cancer screenings, and STI
testing and treatment can continue to do so at their local Planned
Parenthood health center, and we will make that clear in court.”
The lawsuit was filed earlier this month against Health and Human
Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. by Planned Parenthood
Federation of America and its member organizations in Massachusetts
and Utah.
A health department spokesperson reiterated Monday that the agency
strongly disagreed with the judge's order, repeating previous
arguments that her decision “undermines state flexibility and
disregards longstanding concerns about accountability."
“States should not be forced to fund organizations that have chosen
political advocacy over patient care,” said the department’s
communication director, Andrew Nixon, in an email.
Medicaid is a government health care program that serves millions of
low-income and disabled Americans. Nearly half of Planned
Parenthood’s patients rely on Medicaid.
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