Appeals Court Allows Planned Parenthood Funding Block

A federal appeals court on Dec. 30 allowed the Trump administration to withhold Medicaid funds from Planned Parenthood clinics in the 22 states that sued over a congressionally-approved funding block. Section 71113 in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a federal law signed by President Donald Trump in July, imposes a one-year ban on Medicaid payments to health care nonprofits, but does not mention Planned Parenthood by name. Medicaid is a joint federal-state program that offers health insurance coverage to low-income Americans. The defunding provision in the statute cuts off Medicaid payments to health care nonprofits that provide abortions and took in more than $800,000 in Medicaid reimbursements in fiscal year 2023. Planned Parenthood clinics provide services other than abortions—such as birth control and pregnancy testing—to Medicaid recipients....