Appeals court says Medicaid funding cuts for Planned Parenthood can stand while lawsuit proceeds

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The Trump administration can continue to withhold Medicaid funding from Planned Parenthood and other health centers that provide abortions as a coalition of mostly Democratic states challenges the cuts, a federal appeals court ruled.

The decision on Tuesday is one of multiple lawsuits filed after President Donald Trump signed tax breaks and spending cuts legislation in July that eliminated Medicaid reimbursement for Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers that received more than $800,000 in 2023. The lawsuits include two filed in Massachusetts by 21 states and the District of Columbia and Planned Parenthood itself, and a third filed in Maine by a network of medical clinics there.

In the Massachusetts cases, a federal judge issued separate preliminary injunctions siding with Planned Parenthood in July and the coalition of states in early December. But an appeals court overturned the first order on Dec. 12 and put the second on hold Tuesday.

“Although we are disappointed in the court’s decision, we remain committed to holding the federal administration accountable and ensuring vulnerable Californians can access the health care they need,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the Maine lawsuit has been dismissed at the request of the clinics that challenged the cuts.

Maine Family Planning, which operates 18 clinics in many of the poor and rural areas of the state, shut down its primary care operations in October due to the loss of funding.

In August, a federal judge ruled against restoring funding as the lawsuit proceeded, and the clinics appealed. But earlier this month, the network notified the court that it was ending the lawsuit.

“As the Trump administration has dismantled the nation’s health care system, we have remained focused on delivering high quality care to our patients, particularly those across rural Maine,” CEO George Hill said in a statement Wednesday. “Though our lawsuit will not continue, we are not wavering in our commitment to our patients and to advocating for the health care system that Mainers need and deserve.”

The Center for Reproductive Rights, which represented Maine Family Planning, said Wednesday that clinic leaders have decided to focus their resources on treating patients.

“The Trump administration on the other hand has no regard for patients or how the ‘big beautiful bill’ has made healthcare even harder to access in this country,” the center said in a statement.

Planned Parenthood, which did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday, has said that nearly half its patients rely on Medicaid for health care aside from abortions, which were already not covered by the federal insurance program that serves millions of low-income and disabled Americans. At least eight states have directed state funds to compensate Planned Parenthood for the lost funding, including Connecticut, where Gov. Ned Lamont recently announced $8.5 million for Planned Parenthood of Southern New England.

Tuesday’s court decision makes that kind of action even more important, said Connecticut Attorney General William Wong. He called the ruling a “disappointing setback,” but noted the legal process has a long way to go.

“This defunds essential, preventive healthcare, including cancer screenings, birth control, and testing and treatment of sexually transmitted infections,” he said in a statement Wednesday. “We will keep fighting to protect access to essential healthcare and to keep partisan politics out of doctors’ offices.”

Health and Human Services press secretary Emily Hilliard said Wednesday the department doesn’t comment on litigation but added, “We remain committed to protecting the integrity of Medicaid programs to ensure full compliance with the law.”

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Associated Press writers David Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, Ed White in Detroit and Julie Carr Smyth in Columbus, Ohio, contributed.