A judge late Monday temporarily blocked a provision in the newly signed Republican tax and spending cut bill that would have ended Medicaid payments to abortion providers for one year.
The lawsuit against Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was filed earlier in the day in Boston by Planned Parenthood Federation of America and its member organizations in Massachusetts and Utah.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani issued a temporary restraining order that prevents the defendants from enforcing the cuts and requiring them to ensure “Medicaid funding continues to be disbursed in the customary manner and timeframes to Planned Parenthood Federation of America and its members.”
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Plaintiffs argue that allowing the provision to take effect will have devastating consequences nationwide, including increased rates of undiagnosed and untreated sexually transmitted diseases and cancer, as well as unplanned pregnancies and abortions.
Federal Medicaid dollars cannot be used to cover abortions except in cases of rape, incest or danger to the mother's life.
Planned Parenthood, however, says it offers more services than abortion such as testing for sexually transmitted diseases and screanning for cancer and the new bill would make it more difficult for their patients to obtain these services.
