A federal judge on Monday completely blocked a provision of the Big, Beautiful Bill defunding abortion giant Planned Parenthood of taxpayer dollars through Medicaid.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani, a President Obama appointee, granted a preliminary injunction, blocking the provision and essentially mandating Medicaid funding for all Planned Parenthood clinics as litigation continues. Talwani released the expanded order after issuing an order last week only partially blocking the provision for a subset of clinics that did not independently meet the provision’s “prohibited entity” definition: [Planned Parenthood Federation] members that do not provide abortions because of state law or those who received less than $800,000 in Medicaid reimbursements in 2023.
“Patients are likely to suffer adverse health consequences where care is disrupted or unavailable,” Talwani wrote in her order. “In particular, restricting Members’ ability to provide healthcare services threatens an increase in unintended pregnancies and attendant complications because of reduced access to effective contraceptives, and an increase in undiagnosed and untreated STIs.”
Talwani added that the court is “not enjoining the federal government from regulating abortion and is not directing the federal government to fund elective abortions or any healthcare service not otherwise eligible for Medicaid coverage.”
She wrote:
Instead, this order grants preliminary relief that prevents Defendants from targeting a specific group of entities—Planned Parenthood Federation Members—for exclusion from reimbursements under the Medicaid program where Plaintiffs have established a substantial likelihood that they will succeed in establishing that such targeted exclusion violates the United States Constitution, and where Plaintiffs satisfy the remaining requirements to obtain a preliminary injunction.
Planned Parenthood alleged in its lawsuit that Congress targeted Planned Parenthood out of other abortion providers in how it wrote the provision, which bars Medicaid funding for certain abortion organizations for one year. While the provision does not explicitly name Planned Parenthood, the organization is one of the only abortion providers that falls under the restrictions outlined in the bill.
Planned Parenthood also argued in its lawsuit that having its Medicaid funding cut off would have “devastating effects” on the organization. Planned Parenthood has claimed that nearly 200 of its clinics are “at risk of closure” because of the defunding measure.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) argued in its opposition to Planned Parenthood’s lawsuit that the abortion organization “has no right to taxpayer money” and the “court should not invent such a right.”
“The Court should uphold Congress’s lawful exercise of its authority to decide to whom it will entrust taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars,” the filing reads.
Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, reacted to the order in a statement, pledging to keeping fighting for “critical health care.”
“States should not be forced to fund organizations that have chosen political advocacy over patient care,” countered Andrew Nixon, HHS director of communications.
Defunding abortion providers through the reconciliation process allowed the Senate to bypass the critical 60-vote threshold for a simple majority vote, instead capitalizing on Republicans’ overall trifecta. While federal funding for abortions is barred by the Hyde Amendment — except in cases of rape, incest, or life of the mother — pro-life advocates argue no federal funds should be used to prop up any organization that performs abortions.
Planned Parenthood’s most recent annual report revealed record abortions and taxpayer funding in 2023-2024.
The report, called “A Force For Hope,” states that 402,230 unborn babies were killed in abortions, up from 392,715 the previous year. At the same time, the organization received $792.2 million in taxpayer funding, up almost $100 million from the previous year.
Last month, the Supreme Court separately ruled that South Carolina could block Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid funds, finding that Planned Parenthood could not sue the state under a civil rights law.
The case is Planned Parenthood Federation of America v. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., No. 1:25-cv-11913 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.
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