By:Jennifer Shutt
States Newsroom
WASHINGTON — A federal judge this week closed the lawsuit Planned Parenthood filed last summer after Republicans’ “big, beautiful” law blocked Medicaid patients from visiting its clinics for any health care appointments for one year.
Planned Parenthood filed notice with the court Friday that it had dismissed “without prejudice all claims against” the Trump administration in the case. Massachusetts District Court Judge Indira Talwani issued an electronic order Monday closing the case “Pursuant to Plaintiffs’ Notice of Voluntary Dismissal without Prejudice.”
The law prevents people on Medicaid from being seen at Planned Parenthood facilities through early July, when the one-year period would expire.
Planned Parenthood Federation of America President and CEO Alexis McGill Johnson wrote in a statement released last week that President Donald Trump “and his allies in Congress have weaponized the federal government to target Planned Parenthood at the expense of patients — stripping people of the care they rely on.
“Through every attack, Planned Parenthood has never lost sight of its focus: ensuring patients can get the care they need from the provider they trust. That will never change. Care continues, as does our commitment to fighting for everyone’s freedom to make their own decisions about their bodies, lives, and futures.”
The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment from States Newsroom.
Talwani originally ruled for Planned Parenthood in the case, temporarily blocking the defunding provision from taking effect. But an appeals court later overturned that decision, allowing the Trump administration to legally withhold Medicaid funding from going to Planned Parenthood.
Talwani was nominated by former President Barack Obama.
The provision in Republicans’ “big, beautiful” law that blocks all Medicaid funding from going to Planned Parenthood was originally slated to last for a decade, but the final version covered one year.
Federal law for decades has barred spending from covering abortions with limited exceptions for rape, incest, or the woman’s life.
So the new language prevented Medicaid patients from scheduling appointments at Planned Parenthood for other types of health care, like annual physicals, cancer screenings, or birth control appointments.
Shireen Ghorbani, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Association of Utah, which filed the lawsuit along with Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts and Planned Parenthood Federation of America, wrote in a statement that its health care providers would “continue to see patients and deliver on our mission to provide high-quality care and education to everyone who needs it, no matter where they live or how much money they make.”
A Planned Parenthood spokesperson, who did not want to comment on the record, said that certain clinics may choose to cover the cost of treating Medicaid patients, even though the clinic will not receive reimbursement from the federal government under the law.
Angela Vasquez-Giroux, vice president of communications at Planned Parenthood Federation of America, wrote in a statement that the organization’s “health centers initially shielded the overwhelming majority of patients who rely on Medicaid from the harm of this cruel law. Unfortunately, the consequences for patients will worsen considerably over time as health centers close, costs rise, and access to their trusted provider is pushed further out of reach.”