The U.S. appeals court panel on Thursday allowed the administration of President Donald Trump to halt Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood amidst ongoing legal battles.
In July, a federal judge had decided that Planned Parenthood clinics across the nation must continue receiving Medicaid reimbursements as they engage in legal contests against Trump’s administration’s efforts to cut off their funding through his tax legislation.
Medicaid is a government program providing healthcare to millions of Americans with low incomes and disabilities. Almost half of Planned Parenthood’s clientele depends on Medicaid.
The Trump tax bill included a measure directing the federal government to suspend Medicaid payments for a year to abortion providers that obtained over $800,000 from Medicaid in 2023. This even applies to providers like Planned Parenthood, which also offer health services such as contraception, pregnancy tests, and STD screenings.
The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, along with its branches in Massachusetts and Utah, initiated a legal action in July against Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
“While the Trump administration attempts to undermine reproductive freedom, we emphatically declare we won’t retreat,” expressed Dominique Lee, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, in a statement. “This fight is far from over.”
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services didn’t immediately respond to an online request for comment.
Planned Parenthood said Thursday’s ruling means that more than 1.1 million patients can’t use their Medicaid insurance at its health centers. That also puts as many as 200 of those health centers at risk of closure, Planned Parenthood said in a statement.
Planned Parenthood says it is the nation’s leading provider and advocate of affordable sexual and reproductive health care, as well as the nation’s largest provider of sex education.
