Main: President Donald Trump talks with reporters on Air Force One after visiting a migrant detention center in Ochopee, Fla., Tuesday, July 1, 2025, as he heads back to Joint Base Andrew, Maryland (AP Photo/Evan Vucci). Inset: Planned Parenthood in Houston, Texas on September 6, 2021 (Jennifer Lake/SIPA USA)(Sipa via AP Images).
A federal judge in Massachusetts has momentarily blocked the Trump administration from enforcing a provision in the president”s newly passed domestic policy law that would strip Planned Parenthood health centers from receiving reimbursements from Medicaid.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani on Monday granted the organization’s emergency request for a 14-day temporary restraining order (TRO) halting the enforcement of a law that would have barred most Planned Parenthood clinics in the country from receiving federal payments for services it provides other than abortions.
“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 Federation of America and its members,” Talwani, a Barack Obama appointee, wrote in the two-page order.
The TRO came down just hours after Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts and Planned Parenthood Association of Utah filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. Wang has not yet provided the legal reasoning behind her order.
While the provision in the new law does not expressly name Planned Parenthood, it targets the organization by barring Medicare reimbursements to nonprofit organizations that provide abortions that also took in more than $800,000 in Medicaid revenue over the course of 2023 — meaning Planned Parenthood is likely the only organization to be defunded.
Federal law already bans Medicaid reimbursements for the costs of abortions.
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In the lawsuit, the health care provider asserts that the defund provision is an unconstitutional attack on its First Amendment rights to advocate for abortion rights and acts as a Bill of Attainder — essentially singling out a group or individual as guilty of a crime and imposing punishment without adjudication.
“The clear purpose of the Defund Provision is to categorically prohibit health centers associated with Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid reimbursements,” the complaint states. “The prohibition specifically targets Planned Parenthood Federation of America and its member health care providers in order to punish them for lawful activity, namely advocating for and providing legal abortion access wholly outside the Medicaid program and without using any federal funds.”
According to the lawsuit, allowing the defund provision to take effect would have “catastrophic” consequences for Planned Parenthood, as more than half of the organization’s patients rely on Medicaid in order to access “essential health services” such as cancer screenings, treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, and reproductive health treatments.
“There is no legitimate justification for the statute; rather, the true design of the Defund Provision is simply to express disapproval of, attack, and punish Planned Parenthood, which plays a particularly prominent role in the public debate over abortion and (if Planned Parenthood’s Members are treated collectively) is the only nationwide abortion provider,” the suit continues. “Supporters of the Defund Provision, including President Trump and members of Congress, have made this point unmistakably clear.”
The organization said that the new law could lead to the closing of nearly 200 of its health centers in 24 states across the country — with more than 90% of the closures taking place in states where abortion is legal — leading to more than 1 million people losing access to health care.
“The Defund Provision is a naked attempt to leverage the government’s control over funds to punish Planned Parenthood. It does so not only because of Planned Parenthood Members’ long history of providing legal abortions to patients across the country, but also because of Planned Parenthood’s unique role in advocating for policies to protect and expand access to sexual and reproductive health care, including abortion,” the complaint says. “This legislative attack is unconstitutional and cannot stand.”
