A three-judge panel of the First Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday that Planned Parenthood is unlikely to succeed in its challenge to a federal law that removes Medicaid funding from certain abortion providers. The panel overturned a lower court’s temporary block on the provision of President Donald Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill,” signed into law on July 4, which cuts federal Medicaid funds for one year from abortion providers that received more than $800,000 in Medicaid funding in fiscal year 2023, along with any affiliated entities.
In practice, the law primarily targets Planned Parenthood, with only two other unrelated organizations meeting the criteria for defunding. The appellate panel disagreed with U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani’s reasoning, finding that the law does not constitute a bill of attainder, since it does not punish recipients but instead forces them to choose between federal funding and providing abortion services. “That the law imposes a difficult choice on the recipient of federal funds does not demonstrate that Congress is punishing the recipient for past action,” wrote U.S. Circuit Judge Gustavo Gelpí, joined by Judges Seth Aframe and Lara Montecalvo, all Biden appointees.
The panel also challenged Talwani’s interpretation of the law’s impact on First Amendment rights. Planned Parenthood had argued that the defunding punishes affiliates for their association with the organization, even if they do not provide abortions, violating freedom of association. The court noted that “affiliates” likely refers to entities under common control with abortion providers and that the lower court could examine whether non-abortion-providing affiliates fall under this definition.
Planned Parenthood had also claimed that the law violates the equal protection clause by singling it out, but the panel found the defunding rationally related to the federal government’s goal of reducing abortions. Gelpí wrote that Congress had plausible reasons to treat “prohibited entities” differently, given their significant Medicaid funding.
Although federal law already bars the use of federal funds for abortions, Planned Parenthood uses Medicaid for other health services, including birth control, cancer screenings, and prenatal care. Since the law’s enactment, 20 Planned Parenthood health centers have reportedly closed.
Planned Parenthood Federation of America president Alexis McGill Johnson criticized the ruling, stating it enables efforts to block access to care and push health centers toward financial collapse. “Planned Parenthood will never stop fighting for patients,” she said.
Meanwhile, in a separate case involving 22 states and the District of Columbia, Talwani issued another preliminary injunction last week blocking federal defunding for Planned Parenthood providers in those jurisdictions.