Massachusetts judge BLOCKS congressional ban on funds for Planned Parenthood

Massachusetts Judge Indira Talwani has blocked the stoppage of Medicaid funds going to Planned Parenthood. Congress passed the defunding of Planned Parenthood as part of the Big, Beautiful Bill in July.

Talwani ruled in the case filed by 22 Democratic-led states, which argued that the criteria for the ban on funding were too vague. As part of the defunding law, the states would have had to determine which government-funded health care providers were doing abortions and stop funding them entirely, including those services that were not banned, which patients may rely on.

In the ruling, she acknowledged the states' complaint, saying, "Plaintiff States argue that Section 71113 fails to provide clear notice in two ways: first,
they contend that the definition of a 'prohibited entity,' together with the provision’s effective date, imposes vague and contradictory conditions on them; and second, they argue that removing 'prohibited entities' from health care providers eligible to provide care for Medicaid participants is a retroactive condition that the Plaintiff States could not have anticipated when they joined Medicaid."

Talwani previously issued a preliminary injunction against the ban in July, required the Trump administration to partially fund SNAP benefits during the Congressional government shutdown, and ruled that the administration could not revoke temporary protected status visas.

She said that the anti-Planned Parenthood measure "does not furnish states with clear notice as to the meaning and application of Section 71113’s criteria for designating 'prohibited entities' other than those that, without regards to affiliates, successors, or clinics, are themselves (1) tax-exempt organizations ... (2) 'essential community providers' ... (3) self-identify as 'primarily engaged in family planning services, reproductive health, and related medical care'; (4) provide abortions, other than abortions under the Hyde Amendment; and (5) directly received more than $800,000 in total federal and state expenditures from that state’s own Medicaid program in fiscal year 2023."

Essentially, Talwani said the law was not clear enough on the ban on funding for Planned Parenthood. The bill, per Congress, "restricts federal funding for Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. or any of its affiliates or clinics for one year."

"Specifically, it prohibits providing federal funding to those entities unless they certify that the affiliates and clinics will not perform, and will not provide funds to entities that perform, abortions during that year. If the certification requirement is not met, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Agriculture must recoup any federal assistance received by those entities.

"However, the bill's funding restriction does not apply to abortions performed in cases of rape or incest or when necessary to resolve a physical condition that endangers a woman's life.

"The bill also provides additional funding for community health centers for the one-year period. These funds are subject to the same abortion-related restrictions and exceptions."

Talwani wasn't satisfied with that and said that the retroactive application of the law means that states would have to break contracts with providers that are already in process. She also said that it could cause harm to those who are seeking health care services in states where Planned Parenthood is the primary provider of those services.

The DOJ has seven days to appeal her ruling and that ruling only applies to the states that brought the suit, as well as Washington, DC. Planned Parenthood issued a statement on the ruling, saying "The district court again recognized the ‘defund’ law for what it is: unconstitutional and dangerous."

Talwan i Ppp i 120225 by The Post Millennial