Planned Parenthood v. HHS

Public Rights Project filed an amicus brief on behalf of 42 local governments and leaders in support of continued Medicaid funding for health care providers, including Planned Parenthood.

The case centers on the “defund provision” in the 2025 Reconciliation Act, also known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The provision is designed to stop Medicaid funding from going to clinics affiliated with Planned Parenthood. A district court previously issued a preliminary injunction, blocking the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services from enforcing the new law. Our brief urges the appeals court to keep the preliminary injunction in place so Planned Parenthood affiliates can continue to bill Medicaid while the case proceeds.

Our brief explains that by unlawfully targeting the largest nationwide provider of essential reproductive and family planning health care in the U.S., the federal government is making it harder for people to get a range of health care services. Our main points in the brief:

• Millions of people rely on Medicaid to get all types of care from qualified providers like Planned Parenthood. These facilities offer essential services to patients: preventative care, sexual health care, and education campaigns that reduce public health risks.
• Fewer providers means greater strain on local health systems and worse health outcomes.
• Local governments will need to find money in their budgets to fill health care gaps left by the closure of Planned Parenthood facilities. This is especially challenging during a time when other federal funds have been restricted by the Trump administration.

We highlight how serious the impact of this provision could be on communities. In Texas, where Planned Parenthood has already been removed as a Medicaid provider, patients have faced reduced access to care and longer wait times for both routine and urgent reproductive health services. Extending this policy nationwide would magnify those harms, cutting off critical care for people who rely on Medicaid.