A U.S. appeals court panel on Thursday allowed President Donald Trump\u2019s administration to block Medicaid funds to Planned Parenthood while legal challenges continue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A federal judge in July ruled Planned Parenthood clinics nationwide must continue to be reimbursed for Medicaid funding as the nation\u2019s largest abortion provider fights Trump\u2019s administration over efforts to defund the organization in his signature tax legislation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Medicaid is a government health care program that serves millions of low-income and disabled Americans. Nearly half of Planned Parenthood\u2019s patients rely on Medicaid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A provision in Trump\u2019s tax bill instructed the federal government to end Medicaid payments for one year to abortion providers that received more than $800,000 from Medicaid in 2023, even to those like Planned Parenthood that also offer medical services like contraception, pregnancy tests and STD testing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Planned Parenthood Federation of America and its member organizations in Massachusetts and Utah filed a lawsuit in July against Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhile the Trump administration wants to rip away reproductive freedom, we\u2019re here to say loud and clear: we will not back down,\u201d Dominique Lee, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts said in a statement. \u201cThis is not over.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services didn\u2019t immediately respond to an online request for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Planned Parenthood said Thursday\u2019s ruling means that more than 1.1 million patients can\u2019t use their Medicaid insurance at its health centers. That also puts as many as 200 of those health centers at risk of closure, Planned Parenthood said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Planned Parenthood says it is the nation\u2019s leading provider and advocate of affordable sexual and reproductive health care, as well as the nation\u2019s largest provider of sex education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n