Federal judge issues preliminary injunction against law that ‘defunds’ Planned Parenthood

UTAH (ABC4) — A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction against a Trump Administration law that prevented Planned Parenthood and other family planning health centers from billing for Medicaid services.

Earlier this month, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, and Planned Parenthood Association of Utah filed a lawsuit against the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

The lawsuit was filed against Section 71113, a provision within H.R.1, the “One Big Beautiful Bill” Act, that restricted Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid reimbursement for services provided.

Section 71113 specifically prohibits federal Medicaid funding for one year to nonprofit health care providers if the provider “primarily furnishes family planning services, reproductive health, and related care, offers abortions in cases other than that of rape, incest, or life-threatening conditions for the woman; and (3) in FY2023, received federal and state Medicaid payments totaling more than $800,000.”

Planned Parenthood argued that the law was “unconstitutionally vague” and violated the First Amendment and Due Process rights of Planned Parenthood and its members, according to court documents.

The United States Department of Health and Human Services argued that Section 71113 was consistent with, “electoral mandates from the American people as to how they want their hard-earned taxpayer dollars spent.”

Last week, a temporary injunction was filed to ensure that some of Planned Parenthood’s members, including the Planned Parenthood Association of Utah, could continue to receive funding. According to Planned Parenthood, those members “cannot provide abortions because of state abortion bans, or [who] received less than $800,000 in Medicaid reimbursements in 2023”.

On July 28, 2025, U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani decided to issue a preliminary injunction. The injunction ensures that all Planned Parenthood health centers can continue to be reimbursed for services rendered under Medicaid and allows their patients to go through Medicaid for their services, regardless of services rendered or amount of previous Medicaid reimbursements.

In her ruling, Judge Talwani said, “Patients are likely to suffer adverse health consequences where care is disrupted or unavailable.” She also found that Section 71113 could damage Planned Parenthood’s public image and their ability to advocate for their business and services, which would violate their First Amendment rights.

The injunction does not affect any future decisions on funding allocation within Congress. It also does not allocate any additional funding to Planned Parenthood, besides what the federal government has already designated for Medicaid or other funds, according to the court documents.

Shireen Ghorbani, the Interim President of Planned Parenthood Association of Utah, noted that Planned Parenthood offers medical services, including contraceptive care, prenatal care, STI and cancer screening and treatment. She told ABC4, “Planned Parenthood generally is a vital and essential piece of the healthcare fabric of this nation.”

Ghorbani also said, “To eliminate patients’ choices, their freedom to be able to go to a Planned Parenthood to receive the care, the expert care they have relied on, is simply unacceptable to us.”

Notably, this is a temporary injunction. It does ensure that Planned Parenthood has access to previously allocated funds but does not remove Section 71113 from H.R.1.

MJ Jewkes contributed to this story.