A federal judge has temporarily blocked a provision in the budget bill recently signed by President Donald Trump that strips Medicaid funding from Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani of the District of Massachusetts, an Obama appointee, issued a two-week temporary restraining order on Monday until she hears arguments in the case on July 21.
The order temporarily prevents Trump administration officials from enforcing the provisions of Section 71113 of “An Act to provide for reconciliation pursuant to title II of H. Con. Res. 14” against Planned Parenthood Federation of America, PPFA members, Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts and Planned Parenthood Association of Utah.
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“Defendants, their agents, employees, appointees, successors, and anyone acting in concert or participation with Defendants shall take all steps necessary to ensure that Medicaid funding continues to be disbursed in the customary manner and timeframes to Planned Parenthood,” stated the order.
PPFA and the two regional Planned Parenthood bodies released a joint statement Monday saying that they were “grateful that the court acted swiftly to block this unconstitutional law attacking Planned Parenthood providers and patients.”
“Already, in states across the country, providers and health center staff have been forced to turn away patients who use Medicaid to get basic sexual and reproductive health care because President Trump and his backers in Congress passed a law to block them from going to Planned Parenthood,” they stated.
“There are no other providers who can fill the gap if the ‘defunding’ of Planned Parenthood is allowed to stand. The fight is just beginning, and we look forward to our day in court.”
National Right to Life President Carol Tobias denounced the Planned Parenthood lawsuit, saying in a statement on Monday that the abortion provider is engaging in “a desperate attempt to maintain their grip on public dollars.”
“President Trump and pro-life leaders in Congress delivered a major victory for unborn children, their mothers, and for taxpayers,” Tobias said, contending that Americans “deserve better than being forced to fund abortion providers.”
“It’s shameful — but not surprising — that Planned Parenthood is turning to the courts to overturn the will of the people and protect their multimillion-dollar abortion enterprise.”
Over the past couple of decades, pro-life activists have campaigned to remove hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding from Planned Parenthood, arguing that money for women’s healthcare and family planning shouldn’t be going to abortion providers.
On July 4, Trump signed what is commonly known as the “big, beautiful bill,” after the measure was passed by a Republican-controlled Congress.
Among the many provisions of the new lengthy budget was a temporary ban on abortion providers receiving federal Medicaid funding for non-abortion services that would last one year. The use of federal dollars to fund most abortions has been prohibited for decades through the Hyde Amendment.
Planned Parenthood, which gets about a third of its funding from state and federal funds, filed a lawsuit against the measure, arguing that, if allowed to stand, the provision would force them to close as many as a third of their approximately 600 clinics.
