A U.S. appeals court ruled in favor of enforcing a Trump-backed law that cuts Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood facilities in 22 states if they perform abortions.
The decision came from a three-judge panel of the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, suspending a lower-court injunction that had previously blocked the law’s enforcement in these states and the District of Columbia.
Driving the news: The law, part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed by a Republican-majority Congress, targets tax-exempt organizations that offer family planning or reproductive health services and received more than $800,000 in Medicaid funds in the 2023 fiscal year, if they also perform abortions.
- Planned Parenthood argues the law specifically aims to hurt their organization and claims at least 20 of its health centers have closed since the law was signed in July.
- An earlier injunction in favor of Planned Parenthood had been issued by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani, who found the law likely unconstitutional, but the 1st Circuit previously overturned her ruling in another similar case.
The big picture: Despite Democratic state attorneys general requesting to block the law again, the appeals court found the Trump administration likely to win on appeal and allowed the law to be enforced while the case moves forward.
- All judges on the appellate panel were appointed by Democratic presidents.
