Providence, Rhode Island — Planned Parenthood moved to drop it Legal challenge against the Trump administration To cut Medicaid funding for abortion providers across the United States
Since July, Planned Parenthood lawyers have fought to block some of that President Donald Trump’s tax bill They claimed they had unfairly targeted their clinics and would leave vulnerable patients with fewer healthcare options.
However, in December, a federal appeals court ruled that the Trump administration could continue to withhold Medicaid funding from Planned Parenthood and other health centers. Meanwhile, a separate lawsuit was filed by A An alliance of mostly democratic countries It took a similar blow in January, although that legal challenge is still ongoing.
A third lawsuit, also related to funding cuts, Provided in Maine by a network of medical clinics Which was also affected by Trump’s tax bill, and was voluntarily rejected in October.
Planned Parenthood moved to voluntarily dismiss the lawsuit late Friday. An email seeking comment from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was the named plaintiff in the lawsuit, was sent Monday.
“The goal of this lawsuit has always been to help Planned Parenthood patients get the care they deserve from their trusted provider. Based on the First Circuit’s decision, it is clear that this lawsuit is no longer the best way to achieve that goal,” the organization said in a statement.
Under the tax provision in Trump’s tax bill, Medicaid payments would be ended if providers like Planned Parenthood primarily provide family planning services — things like contraception, abortion and pregnancy tests — and receive more than $800,000 from Medicaid in 2023.
Planned Parenthood is not specifically mentioned in the law, but the organization’s leaders said it was intended to affect nearly 600 centers in 48 states.
Medicaid is a government health care program that serves millions of low-income and disabled Americans. While federal law prohibits taxpayer dollars from covering most abortions, many conservatives have long argued that abortion providers like Planned Parenthood have used Medicaid funds on other health services to subsidize abortion.
Nearly half of Planned Parenthood’s patients rely on Medicaid.
According to Planned Parenthood, 23 of its health clinics were forced to close as a result of Trump’s tax bill, which took effect on July 4. More than 50 clinics have closed in 18 states in the past year, with the majority of those clinics in the Midwest.
“President Trump and his allies in Congress have weaponized the federal government to target Planned Parenthood at the expense of patients — stripping people of the care they depend on,” Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a statement. “Through every attack, Planned Parenthood has never lost its focus: ensuring patients get the care they need from a provider they trust. And that will never change.”