Federal Judge Blocks Trump Administration’s Medicaid Funding Restrictions Targeting Planned Parenthood

A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from enforcing a key provision of its major tax and domestic policy legislation that would strip Medicaid funding from Planned Parenthood and similar providers in 22 states. U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani ruled that Democratic-led states challenging the measure are likely to prove that the law imposes an unconstitutional retroactive condition on their participation in the Medicaid program.

Talwani described the provision as “impermissibly ambiguous,” noting that allowing it to stand would reduce access to essential reproductive healthcare services, including birth control and preventive screenings. She added that the resulting drop in care availability would likely raise overall healthcare costs for states. The judge, appointed by former President Barack Obama, issued a preliminary injunction covering 22 states and the District of Columbia but placed a seven-day hold on the ruling to give the administration time to appeal.

The disputed provision appears in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, passed by the Republican-controlled Congress. It prohibits Medicaid funding for tax-exempt organizations that provide family planning and reproductive health services if they also perform abortions and received more than $800,000 in Medicaid funds during the 2023 fiscal year. Planned Parenthood has warned that the law is already causing significant harm, reporting that at least 20 health centers have closed since September, when an appeals court allowed the policy to take effect.

The coalition of states that filed the lawsuit argued that the federal government failed to provide clear notice of which providers would be affected, violating the Constitution’s Spending Clause. They emphasized that states have historically determined which healthcare providers qualify for Medicaid and that the abrupt policy shift left them unable to prepare for the new requirements. The White House has not yet commented on the ruling.