A Massachusetts district judge blocked the Trump administration on Monday from effectively defunding Planned Parenthood for a year.
Judge Indira Talwani ruled that the withholding of Medicaid funds possibly violated the First Amendment’s right of association, according to court documents. The case stems from a provision in Trump’s tax bill that eliminates Medicaid reimbursements to abortion providers that received more than $800,000 in Medicaid reimbursements in 2023 for one year, regardless of the other services the provider offered.
“The court’s order does not require the federal government to spend money not already appropriated for Medicaid or any other funds,” Talwani 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 violated the United States Constitution, and where Plaintiffs satisfy the remaining requirements to obtain a preliminary injunction.”
Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts and Planned Parenthood Association of Utah filed a joint lawsuit against Robert F. Kennedy Jr, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), following the passage of Trump’s tax bill.