Attorneys representing Planned Parenthood argued on Wednesday, November 12, that Congress cannot cut off the nation’s largest abortion provider’s Medicaid funding in the hope that it will lead to fewer abortions, APNews’ Safiya Riddle and Kimberlee Kruesi reported.
“Under the tax and spending cut bill, organizations that provide both abortions and receive more than $800,000 a year in Medicaid reimbursements would no longer be eligible to receive such funding,” Riddle and Kruesi wrote.
In July, a federal judge ruled that Planned Parenthood clinics nationwide must continue to be reimbursed for Medicaid funding. “The order, issued by Judge Indira Talwani in Federal District Court in Massachusetts, extended a temporary block she had placed on the government,” Zach Montague reported for The New York Times. This followed the House of Representatives’ passing of its tax and immigration bill on July 3, which included big cuts to Medicaid services. “The bill imposed a one-year ban on state Medicaid payments to any healthcare nonprofit that offers abortions and received more than $800,000 in Medicaid funding in 2023,” Montague explained.
“However, in September, the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower court decision and said the law could take effect while the U.S. government’s attorneys appealed the initial ruling,” APNews reported.
On Wednesday, Planned Parenthood released a report which stated that during the first month (September), the “defund” law was enforceable, Planned Parenthood health centers provided millions of dollars in free services to help shield their patients from rising costs due to the unconstitutional law.
Since the beginning of 2025, nearly 50 Planned Parenthood health centers have been forced to close following the loss of Title X funds and Medicaid reimbursements, Planned Parenthood shared in the report.
Praveena Somasundaram wrote for The Washington Post that Planned Parenthood and its allies have for months characterized the ban as a politically motivated effort to kneecap the organization because it provides abortions. “In Wednesday’s briefing, Planned Parenthood leaders pleaded for state lawmakers to address what they described as a worsening crisis in accessible and affordable healthcare.”
