A federal judge has temporarily blocked the government’s effort to defund Planned Parenthood by ordering President Donald Trump’s administration to continue funding to the nation’s largest abortion provider for at least the next 11 days.
The court order, signed by Judge Indira Talwani, partially halts a provision in the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” that would have cut off Medicaid reimbursements for certain organizations that perform abortions. Trump signed the bill on Friday, July 4, after it passed both chambers of Congress.
Planned Parenthood Federation of America sued the administration just three days after Trump signed the bill into law and asked the court to issue a temporary restraining order blocking enforcement against the organization while its litigation continues. Talwani signed the order on the same day.
Under long-standing federal law, taxpayer money cannot be used to fund most abortions. Federal funds have historically still covered non-abortive services at abortion clinics through Medicaid reimbursements. Planned Parenthood’s annual report for July 2023 to June 2024 disclosed that the abortion network received nearly $800 million in taxpayer funding in that period, which accounted for almost 40% of its total revenue. A large portion of these funds come from state and federal Medicaid reimbursements. Click here to read more from the Catholic News Agency.