More than 20 Democratic-led states sue Trump administration over Planned
Parenthood funding cuts
[July 30, 2025]
By SOPHIE AUSTIN
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — More than 20 mostly Democratic-led states sued
the Trump administration Tuesday over its efforts to cut Medicaid
payments to the nation's largest abortion provider — Planned Parenthood.
The move comes in response to the package of tax breaks and spending
cuts Trump signed earlier this month. A portion of the new cuts are
focused on services such as cancer screenings and tests, birth control
and treatment for sexually transmitted infections — by ending Medicaid
reimbursements for a year for major providers of family planning
services.
The cuts apply to groups that received more than $800,000 from Medicaid
in 2023. The goal was to target Planned Parenthood, but the legislation
also affected a major medical provider in Maine.
California, New York, Connecticut, other states and Washington, D.C.
argue in a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts
that the provision's language is unclear about which groups it applies
to. They also say it retaliates against Planned Parenthood for
advocating for abortion access, violating the free speech clause of the
First Amendment.
The states are asking that the portion of the law be blocked and deemed
unconstitutional.
The cuts threaten health care access for many low-income Americans,
California Attorney General Rob Bonta said at a news conference.
“This attack isn't just about abortion,” the Democrat said. “It's about
denying vulnerable communities access to care they rely on every day.”
But the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, named a defendant
in the suit, defended the provision.
“States should not be forced to fund organizations that have chosen
political advocacy over patient care,” spokesperson Andrew G. Nixon said
in an email. “It is a shame that these democrat attorney generals seek
to undermine state flexibility and disregard longstanding concerns about
accountability.”
Maine Family Planning, which operates 18 clinics offering a range of
services across the state, and Planned Parenthood Federation of America
filed separate lawsuits earlier this year challenging the cuts. Planned
Parenthood said although it is not specifically named in the law, the
provision was meant to affect its nearly 600 centers in 48 states. About
a third of those clinics risk closure because of the legislation, which
would strip care from more than 1 million patients, the group argues.
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A Planned Parenthood sign is displayed on the outside of the clinic,
Aug. 1, 2023, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File)
 A federal judge on Monday ruled
Planned Parenthood clinics nationwide must continue to receive
Medicaid reimbursements.
Maine Family Planning said it had enough in its reserves to keep
seeing patients covered by Medicaid without reimbursements only
through October. About half of the group’s patients not seeking
abortions are enrolled in Medicaid.
The states' suit filed Tuesday argues that by pushing Planned
Parenthood clinics to close or cut services, it could increase the
states' medical care costs in the long term. Otherwise the cuts will
make states use their own funds to keep health centers open.
“Either we have to comply and violate Planned Parenthood’s
constitutional rights and then push people to alternative providers
that don’t exist, who don’t have the capacity to pick up the slack,
or we have to spend upwards of $6 million or more to cover (those
services),” said William Tong, Connecticut's Democratic attorney
general.
Federal law already bars taxpayer money from covering most
abortions, but some conservatives argue abortion providers use
Medicaid money for other health services to subsidize abortion.
___
Associated Press writer Susan Haigh in Hartford, Connecticut,
contributed to this report.
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