- Utah Planned Parenthood has joined a lawsuit against the Trump administration over Medicaid funding cuts to reproductive health clinics.
- A federal judge temporarily halted a portion of the budget bill affecting Planned Parenthood's Medicaid funds.
- Sen. Mike Lee criticizes judge's decision, calling it judicial overreach and abuse.
SALT LAKE CITY — The Planned Parenthood Association of Utah joined a lawsuit against the Trump administration over cuts to Medicaid funding, prompting a federal judge to temporarily pause a portion of the newly enacted budget bill from taking effect.
The lawsuit alleges that a section of the so-called "big, beautiful bill," signed by President Donald Trump last week, that restricts Medicaid funds from going to Planned Parenthood clinics unduly punishes the organization for its advocacy for "access to sexual and reproductive health care, including the right to safe and legal abortion."
In addition to performing abortions where it is legal, Planned Parenthood clinics offer cancer screenings, birth control, sexually transmitted disease testing and other types of sexual and reproductive health care.
It has long been illegal to use federal Medicaid funds to pay for abortions, and the new restrictions would further limit access to funds to cover procedures that are not related to abortion.
"Planned Parenthood Association of Utah is proud to join the fight to protect our patients' freedom to choose their health care provider and access quality, affordable health care at Planned Parenthood," said interim President Shireen Ghorbani. "As the Trump administration guts our public health care system, we know millions will suffer and struggle to get care. We will not tolerate these attacks."
The Utah organization joined with the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts to challenge the Medicaid provision in U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts on Monday.
Plaintiffs sought emergency relief to pause the law, which a federal judge granted later that day, ordering federal agencies tasked with handling Medicaid payments to "take all steps necessary to ensure that Medicaid funding continues to be disbursed in the customary manner and time frames" to Planned Parenthood members. That temporary order is in place for 14 days.
The tax and spending bill doesn't refer to Planned Parenthood clinics by name, but the plaintiffs argue the text effectively singles them out by applying to nonprofit clinics that earned $800,000 or more from Medicaid payments in fiscal year 2023.
"When taken together, to the best of plaintiffs' knowledge, all but a small number of the entities that satisfy these criteria ... are Planned Parenthood members," the lawsuit states.
"The defund provision purposefully treats Planned Parenthood members unlike other organizations that provide the same medical care," it adds. "Others who provide abortion and also receive Medicaid payments for Medicaid-covered care are not similarly targeted by the defund provision and are not prohibited from receiving Medicaid funds as a result."
Plaintiffs also allege that the Medicaid restrictions represent a "bill of attainder" — "legislation that imposes punishment on a specific person or group of people without a judicial trial," per Congress.gov — which is prohibited under the Constitution.
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, took issue with the temporary restraining order, writing on X: "Unless I'm missing something, this is an abuse of judicial power."
"The complaint asserts that this provision of (the One Big Beautiful Bill Act) is a bill of attainder, but it's quite clearly not, as it imposes no punishment," he added. "Denying federal funding to a type of entity — even one that long received federal funding — isn't punishment, so this can't be a bill of attainder."
Lee went on to call the decision "a pretty egregious judicial usurpation of legislative power" and said he suspects the GOP-controlled House of Representatives would consider impeaching the judge, Indira Talwani, who was appointed by President Barack Obama in 2013.
