Judge Blocks Trump from Defunding Planned Parenthood

A federal judge on Monday blocked a provision in the Republicans' "One Big Beautiful Bill" that barred Medicaid reimbursements from going to Planned Parenthood.

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston, an Obama appointee, issued a preliminary injunction, saying it was likely unconstitutional to specifically target Planned Parenthood's health centers for punishment for providing abortions, Reuters reported.

Talwani ruled that the law's text and structure were clearly crafted for all members of the parent organization Planned Parenthood Federation of America, even if they were not named. Because of the specificity, it likely makes the provision an unconstitutional "bill of attainder," an act of Congress that wrongly seeks to inflict punishment without a trial, according to the judge.

"Plaintiffs are likely to establish that Congress singled them out with punitive intent," Talwani wrote.

She added that the provision violated the U.S. Constitution's Fifth Amendment equal protection rights for Planned Parenthood, and burdened some of its members who do not provide abortions to associate with their parent organization in a likely violation of the First Amendment.