The court maintained the order blocking the defunding of the group until July 21 and scheduled a hearing in the case for July 18.
A federal judge on July 11 stood by her own order blocking a federal law that withholds Medicaid reimbursements from Planned Parenthood after the Trump administration urged her to cancel it.
The court previously paused a provision in the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act that stops Planned Parenthood clinics from taking in Medicaid payments for a one-year period. Planned Parenthood is well-known for providing abortions, but its affiliated clinics also offer services such as birth control and pregnancy testing to Medicaid recipients.
Medicaid is a joint federal–state program that offers health insurance coverage to low-income Americans.
Republicans have long tried to cut off federal funding for Planned Parenthood, arguing that taxpayer dollars should not flow to any organization involved in providing abortions. An earlier version of the bill blocked funding for 10 years, but the duration of the Medicaid reimbursement ban was later reduced to one year.
President Donald Trump signed the bill on July 4 after winning the support of Congress following months of negotiations. The group’s national organization, Planned Parenthood Federation of America Inc., is suing the Trump administration, arguing that the defunding provision unconstitutionally singles out its network for a year-long funding cutoff because its clinics provide abortion services.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani of Massachusetts issued an amended temporary restraining order after regular business hours, at 6:07 p.m. local time, on July 11 that modified the order that she issued on July 7 hours after Planned Parenthood filed its lawsuit.
The July 7 order said Planned Parenthood had shown “good cause,” justifying the order, but did not otherwise explain the decision. That order said the federal government may not enforce the defunding provision for 14 days from the date of the order.
The new order amended the previous order but left the 14-day block from July 7 in place, meaning that the block will still expire on July 21 unless it is extended.
