A federal judge on July 11 stood by her own order blocking a federal law that withholds Medicaid reimbursements from Planned Parenthood after the Trump administration urged her to cancel it.
Medicaid is a joint federal–state program that offers health insurance coverage to low-income Americans.
President Donald Trump signed the bill on July 4 after winning the support of Congress following months of negotiations. The group’s national organization, Planned Parenthood Federation of America Inc., is suing the Trump administration, arguing that the defunding provision unconstitutionally singles out its network for a year-long funding cutoff because its clinics provide abortion services.
The July 7 order said Planned Parenthood had shown “good cause,” justifying the order, but did not otherwise explain the decision. That order said the federal government may not enforce the defunding provision for 14 days from the date of the order.
The new order amended the previous order but left the 14-day block from July 7 in place, meaning that the block will still expire on July 21 unless it is extended.
In the new order, Talwani said the block was needed to prevent “widespread disruptions to patient care” until she could hear arguments at a hearing scheduled for July 18.
The defunding provision in Section 71113 of the act is forcing some affiliated clinics “to turn away patients enrolled in Medicaid,” she said, quoting a declaration that Planned Parenthood filed with the court.
Planned Parenthood clinics face “immediate harm” because of the provision, the judge ruled. Blocking the provision is thus necessary “to prevent irreparable harm” pending the upcoming hearing.
Talwani said Planned Parenthood has shown it is “likely to succeed on at least some of their claims that Section 71113 is unconstitutional.” The section interferes with the right of the clinics “to associate with each other and with Planned Parenthood Federation,” and may violate the due process clause in the Fifth Amendment, she wrote.
In the lawsuit filed on July 7, the Planned Parenthood Federation said Section 71113 does not mention Planned Parenthood by name.
Instead, the defunding provision cuts off Medicaid payments to health care nonprofits that provide abortions and that took in more than $800,000 in Medicaid reimbursements in fiscal year 2023. The nonprofits described in the law’s defunding provision are “a set made up almost entirely of Planned Parenthood Members,” according to the legal complaint the group filed.
Planned Parenthood’s 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 First Amendment protects freedom of speech from government interference.
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.
Blocking an act of Congress signed by the president “is among the most serious and consequential exercises of the judicial power” and must be done only “with caution and restraint,” the department said in a court filing.
“Yet here, without even awaiting a response from the Government, the Court exercised that power through an extraordinary, highly unusual temporary restraining order,” the Justice Department said.
The order prevents “the enforcement of duly enacted legislation approved by Congress and signed by the President barely a week ago,” it said.
Moreover, a temporary restraining order may not be issued unless the requirements of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure have been complied with. The July 7 order “ignores those most basic criteria,” the Justice Department said.
In her new order, Talwani said the claim that the government was not given advance notice of Planned Parenthood’s emergency motion to pause the defunding provision “is not correct.”
Several Justice Department attorneys were notified electronically of the motion when it was filed with the court, the judge said.
Talwani acknowledged that the court had not heard arguments from the Justice Department attorneys when the temporary restraining order was issued on July 7, but said she acted “expeditiously” to schedule a hearing at which they could be heard.
The judge ordered the government to provide a copy of the now-amended temporary restraining order to “all personnel” at the Department of Health and Human Services and “all state agencies involved with the disbursement of Medicaid funding.”
