Boston, Massachusetts — A federal appeals court on Tuesday allowed the Trump administration to enforce a provision cutting Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood clinics that provide abortions, pausing a lower-court order that had blocked the policy in 22 states and the District of Columbia.
A three-judge panel of the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the administration is likely to prevail in its defense of the law, which was enacted as part of President Donald Trump’s tax and domestic policy legislation. The provision bars Medicaid reimbursements to tax-exempt organizations that perform abortions and received more than $800,000 in Medicaid funding during the 2023 fiscal year.
The decision temporarily lifts an injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani, who had concluded the law lacked clear notice and imposed an unconstitutional retroactive condition on state participation in Medicaid after federal approval of their health plans. The appeals court rejected that reasoning, finding the statute unambiguous and within Congress’s authority, even though the panel consisted entirely of judges appointed by Democratic presidents.
Democratic attorneys general from California, Connecticut, and New York, who led the challenge, criticized the ruling and warned it could restrict access to reproductive health care for low-income residents. Planned Parenthood has argued the law was designed specifically to target the organization and says at least 20 of its health centers have closed since Trump signed the measure into law in July.
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