Judge halts GOP defunding of Planned Parenthood

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 16: Clinic escort volunteers stand outside of the Planned Parenthood in the Financial District neighborhood of Manhattan on April 16, 2021 in New York City. The Biden administration's Department of Health and Human Services has begun the process of undoing a Trump administration policy, known as Title X, that stripped federal family-planning dollars from clinics that refer patients for abortions, a move that drove Planned Parenthood to withdraw from the program. — The Trump administration is trying to 'indirectly squeeze clinics' into dropping their abortion services

(Image credit: Michael M. Santiago / Getty Images)

What happened

A federal judge in Massachusetts ruled Monday that the Trump administration can't withhold Medicaid funds from Planned Parenthood under a provision of the recently passed Republican "big, beautiful" megabill. The preliminary injunction, a nationwide expansion of a narrower order issued earlier this month, comes as the White House works to defund the women's health care provider, citing its abortion services.

Who said what

The new GOP law likely violates Planned Parenthood's constitutional rights by singling it out for punishment, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani said in Monday's ruling, and the organization's patients are "likely to suffer adverse health consequences where care is disrupted or unavailable." The judge found that the administration was trying to "indirectly squeeze clinics" into dropping their abortion services "using Medicaid payments as leverage," said The New York Times.

Federal law already prohibits using Medicaid to cover abortion costs. Planned Parenthood member locations "stand to lose over a third of their aggregate revenue" from the Trump-backed law, said Axios.

What next?

The White House has filed an appeal of Talwani's earlier ruling. Barring action from the appeals court, said the Times, her broader ruling will likely "stay in effect for the time being."

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Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.