A federal judge on July 7 paused a provision in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that temporarily prevents Planned Parenthood clinics from receiving Medicaid reimbursements.
The new order in Planned Parenthood Federation of America Inc. v. Kennedy was issued ex parte, meaning without hearing from the other side.
The order comes after the Supreme Court’s landmark June 27 ruling limiting the ability of judges to issue injunctions with nationwide effect.
The statute imposes a one-year ban on Medicaid payments to certain health care nonprofits but does not mention Planned Parenthood by name.
Instead, the defunding provision in the law cuts off Medicaid payments to health care nonprofits that provide abortions and took in more than $800,000 in Medicaid reimbursements in fiscal year 2023.
An earlier version of the legislation set the defunding period at 10 years, but days before the bill received final congressional approval, the duration of the Medicaid reimbursement ban was reduced to one year.
The nonprofits described in the law’s defunding provision are “a set made up almost entirely of Planned Parenthood Members,” according to the complaint.
Medicaid is a joint federal-state program that offers health insurance coverage to low-income Americans.
Planned Parenthood clinics provide services other than abortions—such as birth control and pregnancy testing—to Medicaid recipients.
If allowed to take effect, the complaint stated, the provision will have “devastating consequences nationwide” by preventing Planned Parenthood from offering care to the nearly 80 million Americans “who rely on Medicaid for their essential health needs.”
The complaint argues that the law violates the bill of attainder clause, as well as the First and Fifth Amendments, in the U.S. Constitution.
The Constitution forbids bills of attainder, which are legislative measures that target specific individuals or groups, declaring them guilty and punishing them without giving them an opportunity to defend themselves in court.
In her order, Talwani said the plaintiff, Planned Parenthood, had shown “good cause,” justifying the order, but did not otherwise explain her decision.
The order provides that the federal government may not enforce the defunding provision against Planned Parenthood and its affiliated organizations for 14 days from the date of the order.
The government “shall take all steps necessary to ensure that Medicaid funding continues to be disbursed in the customary manner and timeframes to Planned Parenthood Federation of America and its members,” the order said.
Talwani also directed the Trump administration to file a status report with the court confirming compliance with the order within 96 hours.
The case, known as Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, dealt with South Carolina’s attempt to prevent Medicaid dollars from going to the organization.
Planned Parenthood and one of its patients sued, alleging that the state’s policy violated the federal law establishing Medicaid, which allows recipients to choose their providers.
The Supreme Court’s ruling, however, held that patients didn’t have a clear right to sue over that provision of the Medicaid Act, and left South Carolina’s policy in place.
Department of Justice spokesperson Natalie Baldassarre told The Epoch Times that the department had no comment on the new court order.
