Judge blocks Trump from cutting off Planned Parenthood funding under “big, beautiful bill”

A judge on Monday barred the Trump administration from revoking Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood, partially freezing a provision of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act just days after President Trump signed it into law.

The temporary restraining order by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani lasts 14 days and directs the Department of Health and Human Services to “take all steps necessary to ensure that Medicaid funding continues to be disbursed” to Planned Parenthood. The ruling, which came after a lawsuit from Planned Parenthood, doesn’t apply to any other health care providers.

The lawsuit takes aim at a portion of Mr. Trump’s signature domestic policy bill that would cut off any federal Medicaid funding to groups “primarily engaged in family planning services, reproductive health, and related medical care” that provide abortions.

The provision doesn’t directly mention Planned Parenthood by name, but the group argues it’s a “naked attempt to leverage the government’s spending power to attack and penalize Planned Parenthood and impermissibly single it out for unfavorable treatment.”

Federal Medicaid dollars already cannot be used to cover abortions except in cases of rape, incest or risk to a mother’s life. But Planned Parenthood argues this new provision would make it harder for patients to access the non-abortion services offered by the group’s local members, like screenings for cancer and sexually transmitted infections. 

Planned Parenthood also said more than half of its patients use Medicaid, so a funding cutoff would have “devastating effects” on the group and its local affiliates.

In response to the ruling, a White House official said, “The Trump Administration is ending the forced use of Federal taxpayer dollars to fund or promote elective abortion – a commonsense position that the overwhelming majority of Americans agree with.”

Separately, the Supreme Court ruled last month that South Carolina can block Planned Parenthood from participating in the state’s Medicaid program, finding Planned Parenthood could not sue the state under a civil rights law.