The “big, beautiful bill” defunding Planned Parenthood’s health care services has prompted the organization to sue the Trump administration. Planned Parenthood claims the provision would have disastrous national ramifications.
Medicaid recipients will no longer be able to get coverage from a medical facility that also does abortions, thanks to a measure that was signed into law on July 4 by President Trump and passed late last week.
The national health and family planning service is in the sights of the bill, even if it doesn’t specifically name Planned Parenthood. Federal funds cannot be used by organizations that offer abortion services in addition to their “primarily engaged in family planning services, reproductive health, and related medical care” mandates.
The one-year funding limit in the measure may force over 200 clinics throughout the country to collapse, according to Planned Parenthood. These clinics offer more than just birth control; they also test for and treat sexually transmitted infections and screen for cancer.
According to Planned Parenthood, the vast majority of such facilities are located in states that have legalized abortion.
“This case is about making sure that patients who use Medicaid as their insurance can continue to do so at their local Planned Parenthood health center to get birth control, cancer screenings, and STI testing and treatment,” stated Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. The organization promised to make its position clear in court.
Elizabeth MacDonough, the Senate Parliamentarian, shortened the 10-year funding ban to a single year.
The Massachusetts League of Planned Parenthood, the Utah Association of Planned Parenthood, and the Planned Parenthood Federation of America brought the case to the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. Former Obama appointee Judge Indira Talwani will be handling the case.
Protesters who oppose abortion took no time to condemn Planned Parenthood’s legal action.
“Planned Parenthood’s desperation is showing as they run to the courts again to fix a crisis of their own making,” said Katie Daniel, director of legal affairs and policy counsel for Susan B. Anthony’s Pro-Life America.
This lawsuit comes at the same time as Planned Parenthood is fighting changes to a government program that helps prevent adolescent pregnancies in court. In June, attorneys representing five different Planned Parenthood networks took their case to a federal court in the District of Columbia, claiming that the program had been altered by the administration in an ill-defined way, which might prevent the organization from continuing to offer its long-standing services.