(LifeSiteNews) — U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani has issued a temporary restraining order against a provision of President Donald Trump’s so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” that temporarily denies taxpayer funding to the abortion industry, in what many see as an exceptionally egregious case of judicial activism.
Last weekend, Trump signed his controversial “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (BBB) into law, a wide-ranging policy package that includes a one-year ban on federal tax dollars going through Medicaid to any group that commits abortions for reasons other than rape, incest, or supposed threats to the mother’s life.
Last year, Planned Parenthood’s most recent annual report revealed that its affiliates across the nation took in $699.3 million in government “health services” reimbursements and grants, accounting for 39 percent of its total revenue during that period, meaning the BBB and other defunding actions Trump previously took stand to severely impact the lucrative abortion business.
Planned Parenthood sued, alleging that even though it was not specifically named in the BBB, it was effectively the only organization that qualified under the bill’s language and that losing that money would cause “devastating” layoffs and location closures.
Talwani, a judge appointed by former President Barack Obama, agreed in a ruling barring the administration from enforcing the defunding provision of the BBB but also “tak[ing] all steps necessary to ensure that Medicaid funding continues to be disbursed in the customary manner and time frames to Planned Parenthood Federation of America and its members; Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts; and Planned Parenthood Association of Utah.” Her order will remain in effect for two weeks, unless reversed or extended by another court.
Many expressed outrage at both the practical implications of the ruling and the lack of legal basis to judicially block a duly-enacted law determining how federal tax dollars are spent, with even some pro-abortion and anti-Trump voices critical of Talwani. Others expressed optimism that the order will be reversed in relatively short order:
BREAKING:
A federal judge in Massachusetts just blocked the Big Beautiful Bill provision defunding Planned Parenthood
Unjust judicial activism that should be immediately overruled by higher courts pic.twitter.com/4ACxMkEi9y
— Lila Rose (@LilaGraceRose) July 7, 2025
Just so we’re clear here, this comes in the context of a bill passed by Congress and signed by a president to remove funding from an organization funded by a bill passed by Congress and signed by the president.
There is no legal justification. A lower judiciary run rampant. https://t.co/zO0Ugowt9H
— Jeff Blehar is *BOX OFFICE POISON* (@EsotericCD) July 7, 2025
Ordering the executive branch to draw moneys from the Treasury in open defiance of an explicit Congressional decision not to appropriate them, and to spend them before the appellate courts can weigh in, is about the most flagrantly unconstitutional thing a judge could do.
— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) July 8, 2025
Noting that the order was issued within mere hours of Planned Parenthood filing its 53-page complaint, South Texas College of Law Houston constitutional law professor Josh Black asks, “Was this even enough time to read the entire brief? To consider it? To give it some thought? Or was this just a reflexive TRO that was granted because the Defendant is the Trump Administration?”
“You can tell the Judge in the Planned Parenthood case rushed,” Blackman adds. “The order didn’t even address any of the usual factors. There was zero analysis whatsoever. I don’t see how this is a valid TRO. You need to at least gesture to the four factors.”
Within weeks of returning to office, Trump began enforcing the Hyde Amendment (which forbids most federal funds from directly supporting elective abortions), reinstated the Mexico City Policy (which forbids non-governmental organizations from using taxpayer dollars for elective abortions abroad), and cut millions in pro-abortion subsidies by freezing U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) spending.
In March, the administration froze Title X “family planning” grants to nonprofits it said violated its executive orders on immigration and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, including Planned Parenthood affiliates in nine states.
Other Republicans have proposed standalone measures to fully cut off Planned Parenthood’s government funding: the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act, which permanently bans federal funds from being used for abortion; and the Defund Planned Parenthood Act, which disqualifies Planned Parenthood and its affiliates specifically. But they would require 60 votes to make it through the Senate.
