Planned Parenthood Sues Trump Administration Over Planned ‘defunding’

(Reuters) -Planned Parenthood sued the Trump administration on Monday over a provision in Republican President Donald Trump’s sweeping domestic policy bill that would prevent its health centers from receiving Medicaid reimbursements.

In a complaint filed in Boston federal court, Planned Parenthood said the provision is unconstitutional because it singles out members for advocacy for sexual and reproductive healthcare, including abortions.

It also said enforcement would have “catastrophic” consequences for its nearly 600 health centers, saying nearly 200 could close and more than 1.1 million of its approximately 2.1 million patients annually could lose access to care.

“The true design of the Defund Provision is simply to express disapproval of, attack, and punish Planned Parenthood, which plays a particularly prominent role in the public debate over abortion,” Planned Parenthood said.

Late on Monday afternoon, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani temporarily blocked enforcement of the law against Planned Parenthood, and ordered the Department of Health and Human Services to file any opposition to a longer-lasting injunction by July 14.

Medicaid is overseen by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which is part of HHS. Neither that agency nor the White House responded to requests for comment.

Talwani was appointed to the bench by Democratic President Barack Obama.

The complaint was filed 11 days after the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 6-3 vote, cleared the way for South Carolina to deny Medicaid funds to Planned Parenthood, saying the applicable federal law did not authorize the group to sue.

Monday’s lawsuit seeks an injunction to block the government from denying Medicaid funds to “prohibited” entities, including abortion providers and entities receiving more than $800,000 in Medicaid funds in the 2023 fiscal year.

The parent entity, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said it does not provide abortion care and has never received Medicaid funds, but that the law was drafted to target its members, including those that do not provide abortions.

It said clinics that could face closure are in 24 U.S. states, with more than 90% in states where abortion is legal.

Planned Parenthood said the law violates its members’ constitutional rights to free association under the First Amendment and equal protection under the Fifth Amendment. Member groups in Massachusetts and Utah are also plaintiffs.

“This case is about making sure that patients who use Medicaid as their insurance to get birth control, cancer screenings, and STI (sexually transmitted infection) testing and treatment can continue to do so at their local Planned Parenthood health center,” Planned Parenthood President Alexis McGill Johnson said in a statement.

The case is Planned Parenthood Federation of America Inc et al v Kennedy et al, U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts, No. 25-11913.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Mark Porter, Chizu Nomiyama, Marguerita Choy and Bill Berkrot)