An Obama-appointed federal judge in Massachusetts has blocked a duly enacted provision of Congress that stripped federal Medicaid funding from Planned Parenthood affiliates beginning this fall.
Judge Indira Talwani, appointed by President Barack Obama, issued a sweeping preliminary injunction on Tuesday, siding with 22 Democrat-led states and the District of Columbia, and ruling that Congress failed to give states “clear notice” before defunding organizations that meet the statutory definition of “prohibited entities.”
The blocked law, Section 71113 of the Budget Reconciliation Act, passed on July 4, 2025, barred federal Medicaid dollars from flowing to nonprofit entities primarily engaged in family planning and reproductive health services that also provide elective abortions and received more than $800,000 in Medicaid reimbursements in 2023, a definition that plainly captures Planned Parenthood affiliates nationwide.
Congress intended the provision to end the decades-long pipeline of federal money indirectly sustaining Planned Parenthood’s vast abortion network.
But Judge Talwani once again placed the abortion giant’s financial interests above the will of Congress and the American people.
In her 45-page order, Judge Talwani claimed that states would face significant “administrative burdens” in identifying which providers meet the criteria of “prohibited entities.”
She further argued that states could not have “voluntarily and knowingly accept” the new terms of Medicaid funding because the federal government had not provided specificity about how to classify affiliates, subsidiaries, or multistate provider networks.
She went even further, asserting that states might incur increased public-health costs if Planned Parenthood centers lost Medicaid funding, and therefore the law likely violates the Constitution’s Spending Clause.
This is the second time in four months that the same judge has intervened to protect Planned Parenthood.
Judge Talwani previously granted Planned Parenthood Federation of America an injunction in July, claiming Section 71113 amounted to a “bill of attainder” targeting the abortion giant.
That ruling was later paused by the First Circuit on September, but this new lawsuit, filed by Democrat governors and attorneys general, has now produced a fresh injunction keeping the money flowing.
The 22 states (plus the District of Columbia and the Governor of Pennsylvania) included in the lawsuit that resulted in the December 3, 2025, preliminary injunction are:
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California
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Connecticut
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Colorado
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Delaware
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Hawai‘i
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Illinois
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Maine
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Maryland
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Michigan
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Minnesota
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New York
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Nevada
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New Jersey
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New Mexico
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North Carolina
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Oregon
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Rhode Island
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Vermont
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Washington
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Wisconsin
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Massachusetts
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Pennsylvania (Governor Josh Shapiro was named as a plaintiff in his official capacity)
- District of Columbia