District judge blocks funding cuts passed by ‘One Big, Beautiful Bill’ against Planned Parenthood

A district judge granted a lawsuit by Planned Parenthood to temporarily halt federal funding cuts passed as part of the ‘One Big, Beautiful Bill’ Medicaid reform. The ruling by Indira Talwani marks the first judicial pause to the legislation that Donald Trump enacted last July 4.

The decision came hours after the organization filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts. According to their argument, the Republican law unconstitutionally eliminates the possibility for patients to use Medicaid as health insurance. In addition, they allege that the law seeks to virtually prevent their nearly 600 health centers from receiving Medicaid reimbursements. 

The ruling by Talwani, nominated by former President Barack Obama, lasts 15 days, and a hearing is set for July 21 to decide whether or not to extend the pause.

"Thus, this statute must be doing something more—and it is. The Defund Provision is a naked attempt to leverage the government’s spending power to attack and penalize Planned Parenthood and impermissibly single it out for unfavorable treatment," they added in the lawsuit. 

As noted from The Hill, the law will "primarily affect Planned Parenthood clinics in blue states with large numbers of Medicaid beneficiaries where abortion is still legal." Indeed, 90% of the 200 clinics are based in states with looser abortion laws. 

"This case is about making sure that patients who use Medicaid as their insurance to get birth control, cancer screenings, and STI testing and treatment can continue to do so at their local Planned Parenthood health center, and we will make that clear in court," Planned Parenthood Federation of America Executive Director Alexis McGill Johnson said in a statement.