• Posted July 29, 2025

Federal Judge Halts Plan to Defund Planned Parenthood Through Medicaid

Planned Parenthood clinics across the country will continue to receive Medicaid funding, at least for now.

On Monday, a federal judge blocked a new federal rule that could have shut many of them down.

The ruling, issued Monday by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston, replaces an earlier, more limited decision. The new order applies to all Planned Parenthood locations nationwide.

“Patients are likely to suffer adverse health consequences where care is disrupted or unavailable,” Talwani wrote, according to The Associated Press.

“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,” the ruling said.

The case is centered on a new federal law tied to President Donald Trump’s signature tax bill. 

The law, which took effect July 4, directs the federal government to stop Medicaid payments for one year to any abortion provider that received more than $800,000 in Medicaid reimbursements in 2023.

While the law does not name Planned Parenthood directly, the group says it is clearly targeted at its nearly 600 clinics in 48 states. 

Planned Parenthood sued earlier this month, saying the rule could force nearly 200 of its clinics to close across 24 states. That would leave more than 1 million patients without access to care, The AP reported.

“We’re suing the Trump administration over this targeted attack on Planned Parenthood health centers and the patients who rely on them for care,” Alexis McGill Johnson, the group’s president and CEO, said in a statement on Monday.

“This case is about making sure that patients who use Medicaid as their insurance to get birth control, cancer screenings and STI testing and treatment can continue to do so at their local Planned Parenthood health center, and we will make that clear in court,” the statement added.

Nearly half of all Planned Parenthood patients use Medicaid to pay for services. Medicaid is the federal health care program for people with low incomes or disabilities.

In her ruling, Talwani clarified that the decision does not force the government to pay for elective abortions or any services that Medicaid doesn’t normally cover. 

But it does stop the government from cutting off funding to health centers like Planned Parenthood while the legal fight continues.

The lawsuit was filed earlier this month by the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and its member organizations in Massachusetts and Utah.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is the defendant in the case.

Andrew Nixon, a spokesperson for HHS, said that "states should not be forced to fund organizations that have chosen political advocacy over patient care."

More information

Learn more about the role of Planned Parenthood.

SOURCE: The Associated Press, July 28, 2025