Appeals court allows Medicaid block on Planned Parenthood, threatening 1.1 million patients (September 11, 2025 )
September 11, 2025 — A federal appeals court panel allowed the Trump administration to block Medicaid reimbursements to Planned Parenthood while legal challenges to the One Big Beautiful Bill's defunding provision continue, reversing a July injunction that had briefly restored funding. Planned Parenthood said the ruling left more than 1.1 million patients unable to use their Medicaid insurance at its health centers, and put as many as 200 clinics in 24 states at risk of closure.
The OBBBA provision bars health care providers from receiving Medicaid reimbursements for one year if they provide abortions and received more than $800,000 in Medicaid payments in 2023. The threshold effectively targeted only three organizations: Planned Parenthood, Maine Family Planning, and Health Imperatives in Massachusetts. A federal district judge had found in July that the law unconstitutionally retaliated against Planned Parenthood in violation of its First Amendment rights, ruling it was "easily ascertainable" that the organization was specifically targeted despite not being named in the text. The appeals court allowed enforcement to continue pending full review.
Planned Parenthood's lawsuit noted that the vast majority of its services — contraception, STI testing, cancer screenings, primary preventive care — have no connection to abortion. Federal law has long prohibited Medicaid from funding abortions in most circumstances. The organization serves more than 1 million patients annually through Medicaid, nearly half of its total patient base.
| https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/appeals-court-allows-trump-administration-to-block-medicaid-funds-to-planned-parenthood |