Federal Judge Upholds Order Directing US Government Not to Cut Off Planned Parenthood Funding

A federal judge on July 11 stood by her own order blocking a federal law that withholds Medicaid reimbursements from Planned Parenthood after the Trump administration urged her to cancel it. The court previously paused a provision in the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act that stops Planned Parenthood clinics from taking in Medicaid payments for a one-year period. Planned Parenthood is well-known for providing abortions, but its affiliated clinics also offer services such as birth control and pregnancy testing to Medicaid recipients. Medicaid is a joint federal-state program that offers health insurance coverage to low-income Americans. Republicans have long tried to cut off federal funding for Planned Parenthood, arguing that taxpayer dollars should not flow to any organization involved in providing abortions. An earlier version of the bill blocked funding for 10 years, but the duration of the Medicaid reimbursement ban was later reduced to one year....