Judge Blocks Trump Efforts to Defund Planned Parenthood

A federal judge on Monday says Planned Parenthood clinics nationwide must continue to be reimbursed for Medicaid funding as the nation's largest abortion provider fights President Trump's administration over efforts to defund the organization in his signature tax legislation. The new order replaces a previous edict handed down by US District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston last week, reports the AP. Talwani initially granted a preliminary injunction specifically blocking the government from cutting Medicaid payments to Planned Parenthood members that didn't provide abortion care or didn't meet a threshold of at least $800,000 in Medicaid reimbursements in a given year.

"Patients are likely to suffer adverse health consequences where care is disrupted or unavailable," Talwani, an appointee of Barack Obama, wrote in her Monday 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." A provision in Trump's tax bill instructed the federal government to end Medicaid payments for one year to abortion providers that received more than $800,000 from Medicaid in 2023, even to those like Planned Parenthood that also offer medical services like contraception, pregnancy tests, and STI testing.