Federal Judge Orders Trump Administration to Keep Funding Planned Parenthood
On Monday, a federal judge in Boston ordered the Trump administration to continue disbursing Medicaid funding to all Planned Parenthood clinics nationwide, requiring the administration to violate federal law.
Judge Indira Talwani, in handing down her July 28 preliminary injunction, greatly expanded her July 21 order which prohibited the Trump administration from defunding a limited number of Planned Parenthood facilities.
Now, the Trump administration shall “take all steps necessary to ensure that Medicaid funding continues to be disbursed in the customary manner and timeframes to Planned Parenthood Association of Utah, Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, and all other Members of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc.,” the judge wrote.
Judge Talwani was nominated to the federal bench by former President Barack Obama.
Earlier this month, Congress passed, and President Donald Trump signed, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) which prohibits Medicaid funds from flowing to health care providers that provide abortions and received more than $800,000 in Medicaid funding in 2023. The provision lasts for one year.
Judge Talwani found the provision violates Planned Parenthood Federation and its Members’ First Amendment right of association and serves as an unconstitutional “bill of attainder.”
Bills of attainder are legislative actions that target individuals or groups for alleged crimes without due process, and are prohibited under Article I, Section 9 of the U.S. Constitution.
“In ordering relief, the court is not enjoining the federal government from regulating abortion and is not directing the federal government to fund elective abortions or any healthcare service not otherwise eligible for Medicaid coverage,” Judge Talwani wrote.
“Instead, this order grants preliminary relief that prevents Defendants from targeting a specific group of entities — Planned Parenthood Federation Members — for exclusion from reimbursements under the Medicaid program.”
However, Judge Talwani’s legal reasoning is as preposterous as it is nonsensical.
No group has a constitutional right to receive taxpayer dollars in contravention of federal law. Congress has every right to stop funding any organization for any reason whatsoever.
Under the Constitution, Congress has the “power of the purse,” meaning one of its core powers is the distribution and allocation of taxpayer dollars.
Article 1 of the Constitution enumerates Congress’ legislative powers. Article 1, Section 9 of the Constitution states,
Apparently, this isn’t an important factor for Judge Talwani, who has decided to ignore the Constitution, overrule the express legislative action of Congress, and demand the Trump administration violate the law.
SBA Pro-Life America’s president Marjorie Dannenfelser condemned the decision in a statement released shortly after the judge’s ruling.
“An activist judge just issued a ruling full of falsehoods about abortion giant Planned Parenthood in a desperate effort to keep forcing taxpayers to prop up Big Abortion,” Dannenfelser said.
“Every day this order stands, Planned Parenthood continues to rake in millions of our tax dollars, fueling thousands of unborn lives ended daily and putting women at unacceptable risk of serious harm and even death.”
Dannenfelser added,
The Trump administration has already appealed the judge’s July 21 order to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit; it is also expected to appeal the July 28 order.
The First Circuit, however, is one of the most liberal federal appeals courts in the country. All five sitting circuit judges were appointed by Democrat presidents. President Trump has nominated Joshua Dunlap to fill the court’s one vacant seat.
One of the court’s five judges, Julie Rikelman, previously worked for decades as a pro-abortion lawyer. She was a Blackmun Fellow at the Center for Reproductive Rights, served as the group’s senior litigation director for over a decade and represented the Mississippi abortion clinic in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
Rickelman was nominated to the court by former President Joe Biden in 2023.
“We strongly disagree with the court’s decision,” Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) spokesman Andrew Nixon said in a statement after Judge Talwani’s July 28 ruling. “States should not be forced to fund organizations that have chosen political advocacy over patient care. This ruling undermines state flexibility and disregards longstanding concerns about accountability.”
In Judge Talwani’s courtroom, the process is the punishment.
Because the OBBBA’s provision defunding Planned Parenthood lasts only one year, every day the Trump administration is required to violate the law and disburse Medicaid funds to the abortion giant is a loss for the rule of law, the American people, and the preborn children and their mothers the provision is designed to save.
The Daily Citizen will keep you updated with any important developments in this case.
The case is Planned Parenthood v. Kennedy.
If you are experiencing an unexpected pregnancy and want to learn more about your options, you can visit My Choice Network.
Related articles and resources:
Dealing With Unplanned Pregnancy
Become an Option Ultrasound Life Advocate
New Insights on the Dangers of the Abortion Pill
Federal Judge Rules Trump Administration Must Keep Funding Planned Parenthood
House Passes ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act,’ Finally Defunding Planned Parenthood
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