Planned Parenthood clinic in Salt Lake City, Wednesday, July 31, 2024. (Photo by McKenzie Romero/Utah News Dispatch)
WASHINGTON – A federal judge on Monday closed a Planned Parenthood lawsuit filed last summer after Republicans’ “big, beautiful” law blocked Medicaid patients from visiting clinics for any medical visits for a year.
On Friday, Planned Parenthood filed a notice with the court that it dismissed “without prejudice any claims against” the Trump administration in the matter. Massachusetts District Court Judge Indira Talwani on Monday issued an electronic order closing the case “Pursuant to Plaintiffs’ Notice of Voluntary Dismissal without Prejudice.”
The law prohibits people on Medicaid from meeting at Planned Parenthood facilities until early July, when the one-year period expires.
Planned Parenthood Federation of America President and CEO Alexis McGill Johnson wrote in a statement released last week that President Donald Trump “and his allies in Congress have armed the federal government to target Planned Parenthood at the expense of patients, depriving people of the care they rely on.
“After each attack, Planned Parenthood has never lost sight of its purpose: to provide patients with the care they need, from a provider they trust. That will never change. Care continues, as does our commitment to fight for the freedom of every person to make their own decisions about their bodies, lives, and futures.”
The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment from States Newsroom.
Talk to me she originally ruled under Planned Parenthood in such a case, ephemeral blocking of the entry into force of the decision on the deduction of funds. But the appellate court he later overturned this decisionallowing the Trump administration to legally withhold the transfer of Medicaid funds to Planned Parenthood.
Talwani was nominated by former President Barack Obama.
The provision in the Republicans’ “big, beautiful” bill that blocks all Medicaid funds from being sent to Planned Parenthood was originally intended to last for a decade, but the final version covered one year.
Federal law has prohibited spending on abortion for decades, with confined exceptions for rape, incest or the woman’s life.
Therefore, the modern language prevented Medicaid patients from making appointments with Planned Parenthood for other types of health care, such as annual physicals, cancer screenings, or birth control visits.
Shireen Ghorbani, president and CEO of the Planned Parenthood Association of Utah, who filed a lawsuit along with the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts and Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a statement that its health care providers will “continue to see patients and advance our mission of providing high-quality care and education to everyone who needs it, no matter where they live or how much they earn.”
A Planned Parenthood spokesman, who did not want to comment on the reports, said some clinics may choose to cover the costs of treating Medicaid patients even though, by law, the clinic will not receive reimbursement from the federal government.
Angela Vasquez-Giroux, vice president of communications at Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a statement that the organization’s “health centers initially protected the overwhelming majority of Medicaid patients from harm under this cruel law. Unfortunately, the consequences for patients will worsen over time as health centers close, costs rise, and access to a trusted provider becomes increasingly out of reach.”
