(The Hill) A federal judge Monday blocked the Trump administration from cutting funding to Planned Parenthood as part of the GOP’s new tax cut and health law.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston granted Planned Parenthood’s request for a temporary injunction while the lawsuit progresses.
Planned Parenthood sued two weeks ago over a provision in the new law that imposes a one-year ban on state Medicaid payments to health care nonprofits that also offer abortions and received more than $800,000 in federal funding in 2023.
Talwani’s ruling still allows the administration to enforce the provision against other providers, and the legislation did not mention Planned Parenthood by name. But the organization says it comprises almost the entirety of the impacted entities.
Yet at least one other organization also said it would be impacted. Maine Family Planning, the state’s largest network of reproductive health clinics, filed a separate lawsuit last week seeking to restore Medicaid funding.
The lawsuit argued GOP senators lowered the funding threshold to $800,000 explicitly to target providers other than Planned Parenthood.
Taxpayer money is already prohibited from covering most abortions.
Instead, the new law cuts reimbursement for other health services provided by Planned Parenthood and other health centers, like cancer screenings and treatment for sexually transmitted infections.
