Planned Parenthood Scores Temporary Victory Over Trump’s Funding Ban

A federal judge granted a 14-day injunction after Planned Parenthood sued the Trump administration, arguing that the Medicaid ban in the “big, beautiful bill” violates its First Amendment rights.

By Lauren Tousignant | July 8, 2025 | 9:04am

Photo: iStockphoto Abortion Politics

Planned Parenthood Scores Temporary Victory Over Trump’s Funding Ban

It hasn’t even been five days since President Donald Trump signed his big, ~~beautiful~~ disgusting bill into law, but in some slightly encouraging news, the bill is already facing at least one (short-term) defeat.

On Monday, Planned Parenthood sued the Trump administration over the part of the bill that effectively bans the organization from receiving federal Medicaid funding, claiming the provision violates its First Amendment rights. The lawsuit was filed in Federal District Court in Massachusetts, with Judge Indira Talwani issuing a temporary injunction that will expire in 14 days.

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The GOP bill doesn’t explicitly name Planned Parenthood; rather, it states that any nonprofit that offers abortion services—and received $800,000 or more in revenue from Medicaid payments in 2023—is barred from receiving federal money. Most abortion providers aren’t even close to meeting that $800,000 threshold, so Planned Parenthood argued that the bill was a backdoor attempt to target the organization for its abortion rights advocacy, thereby violating its freedom of speech.

“The Defund Provision is a naked attempt to leverage the government’s spending power to attack and penalize Planned Parenthood and impermissibly single it out for unfavorable treatment,” the organization said in its lawsuit. “It does so not only because of Planned Parenthood Members’ long history of providing legal abortions to patients across the country, but also because of Planned Parenthood’s unique role in advocating for policies to protect and expand access to sexual and reproductive health care, including abortion.”

The Defund Provision places a one-year ban on Medicaid funding (the original wording of the bill was a 10-year ban). Talwani’s ruling only applies to Planned Parenthood, but they maintain they’re really the only organization affected by it.

Each year, more than 1 million patients in 43 states receive health care services at Planned Parenthood that are covered by Medicaid. After the House passed the bill, Planned Parenthood warned that, if signed into law, nearly 200 of its clinics would close, with 90% in states where abortion is still legal.

Plus, the Hyde Amendment already bans federal funding from covering abortion, making the Defund Provision a textbook example of the GOP’s slimy anti-abortion agenda. What the new law actually blocks is people using Medicaid to access basic reproductive healthcare, like birth control, cancer screenings, and STI testing.

“Already, in states across the country, providers and health center staff have been forced to turn away patients who use Medicaid to get basic sexual and reproductive health care because President Trump and his backers in Congress passed a law to block them from going to Planned Parenthood,” the organization said. “There are no other providers who can fill the gap if the ‘defunding’ of Planned Parenthood is allowed to stand.”

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