Trump Administration blocked from cutting Planned Parenthood Medicaid funding, federal judge rules

WISCONSIN (CIVIC MEDIA) – A federal judge has temporarily blocked a move to cut Medicaid funding from Planned Parenthood.

The two-week restraining order, issued by a U.S. District Judge, directs the Department of Health and Human Services to keep that funding in place – for now.

Planned Parenthood filed the lawsuit after President Trump signed a new federal bill last Friday. The group says a provision in that bill would stop Medicaid reimbursements to any health provider that offers abortion services.

The law doesn’t name Planned Parenthood directly, but it targets similar nonprofit organizations that provide abortions.

Michelle Velasquez, Chief Strategy Officer at Planned Parenthood Wisconsin, spoke on the dangers the newly passed bill poses to the organization.

“The Congressional bill that would defund Planned Parenthood… would make planned parenthood a prohibited entity. Meaning it could not seek reimbursement from Medicaid for service like contraception care, gender affirming care, etc… and the list goes on and on,” 

Velasquez spoke at a press conference last Wednesday just hours after the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down the state’s 1849 abortion ban.

The legal fight comes just weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that South Carolina can block Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid funds.

For decades, federal funding for abortions has been blocked under the Hyde Amendment. Planned Parenthood says its services would be blocked from Medicaid reimbursement under the new bill.

The organization says just 4 percent of services last year were abortion-related; STI testing and treatment or contraception composed about 75 percent, with Planned Parenthood treating around two million patients.

In Wisconsin, 54 percent of Planned Parenthood’s revenue came from Medicaid, according to its 2022-2023 annual report, which also says it serves 50,000 patients in Wisconsin each year. Nearly half of those patients live at or below the poverty line. 

Planned Parenthood operates 21 clinics across Wisconsin. Three of those clinics – in Madison, Milwaukee and Sheboygan – provide abortion services.