(LifeSiteNews) — An Obama-appointed federal judge has once again been rebuked for her attempts to stop a federal law, signed by President Donald Trump, that generally defunds Planned Parenthood and some other abortion vendors.
Since July, District Judge Indira Talwani has tried several times to stop the temporary defunding of abortion giant Planned Parenthood. The requirement is provided for in the July “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” signed by Trump. However, the Massachusetts judge is regularly reversed by other judges, even those appointed by Democrats.
Talwani’s latest act of judicial activism hit a roadblock earlier this week when the First Circuit Court of Appeals reversed another injunction the activist judge issued against the law on behalf of 22 states.
“A three-judge panel of the Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at the administration’s request put on hold an injunction issued by [Talwani] who barred the law from being enforced in 22 states and the District of Columbia,” Reuters reported on Dec. 30.
“It marked the latest instance of the appeals court lifting an order by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani preventing the law from being implemented, after the 1st Circuit on Dec. 12 overturned a ruling she issued in another case brought by Planned Parenthood declaring that the law violated the Constitution,” the news wire service noted.
All the judges that rebuked Talwani earlier this week were appointed by Democrats, Reuters reported.
Defunding Planned Parenthood will not eliminate abortion but could make it harder for women to kill their babies. Dozens of abortion facilities have announced they will be closing down due to the law, which further proves that killing babies is central to their business.
National Right to Life praised the latest ruling.
“In undoing Judge Talwani’s preliminary injunction, the First Circuit’s December 30th decision restored the federal government’s ability to withhold Medicaid funds from providers who perform abortions,” the group stated on its website. “Very noteworthy, however, is that throughout all of the legal gymnastics, Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood affiliates that perform abortions has been frozen.”
READ: Connecticut governor announces $10 million for Planned Parenthood to make up for Trump cuts
Questions raised about Talwani’s jurisprudence
The judge’s rulings have drawn criticism from pro-life groups and legal scholars of varying political ideologies.
The American Center for Law and Justice concluded “there is no constitutional right to government subsidies for abortion or abortion providers,” in a July brief relating to an initial lawsuit against the law.
Congress is within its power to place limits on who receives taxpayer funding, the ACLJ maintains. To force it to fund something it did not authorize would be to violate the separation of powers, the group argued, as previously reported by LifeSiteNews.
“Congress’s decision reflects a broader policy judgment shared by governments at multiple levels,” the brief states. “Many states have reached similar conclusions about funding abortion providers, based on their own assessments of the competing priorities in healthcare spending of preserving and promoting life.”
Legal scholar Tom Jipping, previously with the Heritage Foundation, raised similar concerns in July 2025. “What you have here is Congress exercising its explicit constitutional authority to make spending decisions, and you have a district judge arguably trying to exercise power she doesn’t have to force Congress to change,” Jipping, a former U.S. Senate counsel, told Fox News.
Likewise, Jonathan Turley, a well-respected, center-left legal scholar, questioned Talwani’s judicial reasoning.
In December, he critiqued Talwani’s claim that the law was not clear on who the defunding applied to. “The opinion, in my view, is flawed and (again) stretches existing precedent to the breaking point,” the George Washington University law professor wrote on his commentary website. “Congress clearly has the power to place this condition on federal funding and was clear on the application of that condition.”
Turley summed up Talwani’s reputation: “[She] has been one of the most active judges in the country in seeking to enjoin the orders of President Donald Trump, including her orders to prevent deportations under previously ‘paroled’ immigrants under the Biden Administration.”
