Appeals court says Medicaid funding cuts for Planned Parenthood can
stand while lawsuit proceeds
[January 02, 2026]
By HOLLY RAMER
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.
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Vanessa Shields-Haas, a nurse practitioner, walks from the lobby
toward the examination rooms at the Maine Family Planning healthcare
facility, July 15, 2025, in Thomaston, Maine. (AP Photo/Charles
Krupa, File)
 “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.”
___
Associated Press writers David Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, Ed
White in Detroit and Julie Carr Smyth in Columbus, Ohio,
contributed.
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