Yesterday, the state of Louisiana urged a federal appeals court to uphold the law Congress passed and President Donald Trump signed that defund planned Parenthood.
As LifeNews has reported, a federal judge extended a block on a provision in President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” that aimed to strip Medicaid funding from Planned Parenthood.
The ruling ensures continued taxpayer funding for the nation’s largest abortion company, prompting criticism from those who argue no public dollars should support organizations killing babies in abortions.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani, an Obama appointee, partially granted Planned Parenthood’s request for a preliminary injunction, halting enforcement of the funding ban against Planned Parenthood. The decision follows a temporary restraining order issued July 7, which Talwani reaffirmed after initially providing no legal reasoning, a move that drew sharp rebuke from pro-life groups and Republican lawmakers.
The provision, part of the sweeping tax and spending bill signed by Trump on July 4, imposes a one-year ban on Medicaid payments to any company that kills babies in abortions and received over $800,000 in federal funding in 2023. While the legislation does not name Planned Parenthood explicitly, the organization argues it is the primary target, potentially forcing the closure of nearly 200 of its 600 centers nationwide. However, it could receive federal funding if it merely stop killing babies.
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Now, Louisiana has filed a friend-of-the-court brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit in Planned Parenthood v. Kennedy. The case involves Planned Parenthood’s challenge to the “One Big Beautiful Bill” that redirects Medicaid funding—intended to help low-income patients obtain necessary medical assistance—away from abortion companies for one year.
Louisiana Attorney General Elizabeth Murrill said, “Louisiana will always choose the health and safety of women and babies over the abortion industry’s bottom line. Americans’ hard-earned money should support health care providers offering real, compassionate healthcare—not organizations with a callous disregard for life. Yet Planned Parenthood continues to demand millions of taxpayer dollars. We’re urging the 1st Circuit to restore order and affirm Louisiana’s ability to decide who qualifies for Medicaid funding.”
Alliance Defending Freedom, which assisted with the brief, chimed in as well.
ADF Senior Counsel Lincoln Wilson told LifeNews:
“Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the ability of states to decide to fund real, comprehensive care and exclude organizations like Planned Parenthood that profit off abortion. And through the OBBB, the American people have made clear once again that they don’t want their tax dollars propping up the abortion industry. We are urging the court to ensure that this federal law goes into effect and to protect the critical role of the States in the Medicaid system.”
Talwani’s order stated that Planned Parenthood was likely to succeed on its claim that the funding ban violates First Amendment.
“Instead of merely prohibiting Planned Parenthood Members that receive Medicaid funds from providing abortions, the statute prohibits them from affiliating with entities that do,” Talwani wrote. “The record is devoid of evidentiary support for Defendants’ suggestion that Planned Parenthood entities share funds that are ultimately used for abortions.”
Never mind that Planned Parenthood kills over 400,000 babies in abortion every year as its primary source of income apart from government funding.
Tom Jipping, a senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation, called Talwani’s initial order “obviously out of bounds,” stating, “What you have here is Congress exercising its explicit constitutional authority to make spending decisions, and you have a district judge arguably trying to exercise power she doesn’t have to force Congress to change.”
The case, Planned Parenthood Federation of America v. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., stems from a lawsuit filed by Planned Parenthood and its Massachusetts and Utah affiliates on July 7. The injunction applies only to certain Planned Parenthood affiliates, leaving the door open for further legal action.
Meanwhile, another federal judge has issued a ruling upholding the defunding law and yanking taxpayer dollars from a Maine abortion business that also qualified for defunding under the law.
