Planned Parenthood seeks to keep Medicaid funds flowing during legal fight

BOSTON (AP) — Attorneys for Planned Parenthood clinics nationwide argued in federal court Friday that cutting off Medicaid funding to its abortion providers would hurt vulnerable patients who already have limited health care options.

Planned Parenthood Federation of America and its affiliates in Massachusetts and Utah are fighting to block part of President Donald Trump’s tax bill they say is designed to target their clinics. The provision would end Medicaid payments to abortion providers like Planned Parenthood that primarily offer family planning services — things like contraception, abortion and pregnancy tests — and received more than $800,000 from Medicaid in 2023.

Although Planned Parenthood is not specifically named in the statute, which went into effect July 4, the organization’s leaders say it was meant to affect their nearly 600 centers in 48 states. However, a major medical provider in Maine and likely others have also been hit.

“It’s the affiliation provision that makes this rotten to the core,” said Planned Parenthood attorney Alan Schoenfeld during Friday’s hearing in Boston.

The plaintiffs have filed their federal lawsuit against Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

So far, the provision has been on hold after U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston granted a temporary restraining order blocking the cuts for two weeks. That order expires July 21, when Talwani has said she will decide whether to grant a motion for a preliminary injunction against the funding cuts while the lawsuit plays out.

On Friday, Talwani was particularly focused on getting a definition of what constituted an affiliation and what a Planned Parenthood health center would have to do to qualify for Medicaid funding, quizzing the federal government’s attorneys if stopping abortions would be enough or if they would have to completely severe all ties.

Emily Hall, an attorney representing HHS, said Friday that the federal government needs more information about Planned Parenthood’s structure and time to finalize interpretations of the law.

“It depends on the nature of the corporate relationship, which I don’t have,” Hall said.

Fears of pending cuts to Planned Parenthood further escalated this week after a Planned Parenthood office in Ohio announced Tuesday that it was closing two health clinics — in Hamilton and Springfield, north of Cincinnati — due to state and federal cuts.

“Make no mistake: This is not a decision made by Planned Parenthood of Southwest Ohio Region,” President and CEO Nan Whaley, a one-time Democratic gubernatorial nominee, told reporters. “We took every possible step to keep these centers open, but the devastating impact of state and federal political attacks has forced us into this very difficult position.”

The centers provide preventive health care, including testing for sexually transmitted diseases, birth control and wellness exams.

Medicaid is a government health care program that serves millions of low-income and disabled Americans. Nearly half of Planned Parenthood’s patients rely on Medicaid.