Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey has joined a coalition of twenty-one Democrat-led states in suing the Trump Administration over a clause in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that defunds Maine’s branch of Planned Parenthood Family Planning, and other similar organizations.
The provision in question blocks Medicaid reimbursements for services performed at facilities deemed ineligible due to their association with Planned Parenthood, one of the nation’s most prominent abortion providers.
On Monday, a federal judge ruled to blocked enforcement of this measure while the lawsuit makes its way through the courts.
The fifty-eight page injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani of Boston — an appointee of former President Barack Obama (D) — argued that the effort to defund Planned Parenthood amounts to a violation of the Constitution.
According to Judge Talwani’s interpretation, preventing clinics associated with Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid funding represents a violation of their First Amendment rights and denies them equal protection under the law.
Talwani draws attention to the fact that the any clinic associated with Planned Parenthood would be blocked from receiving Medicaid reimbursements regardless of whether or not the individual clinic provided abortions.
Although the federal government contends that this clause of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act does not seek to regulate speech, the judge asserts that the “record demonstrates that Members’ affiliation via their membership in Planned Parenthood Federation is expressive.”
While Congress has the power to “‘define the limits’ of a spending program,” as it is not obligated to “‘subsidize activities that it does not wish to promote,'” it cannot reach beyond the “‘contours'” and set conditions “‘that seek to leverage funding to regulate speech outside the contours of the program itself.'”
The plaintiffs in this case have also alleged that defunding Planned Parenthood and its affiliates is tantamount to a “Bill of Attainder,” or a law punishing a specific group without a trial.
The government has pushed back on this interpretation, pointing out that non-Planned Parenthood entities are also impacted by the provision and highlighting that it is based on future conduct.
Talwani sided with the plaintiffs on this, noting that Planned Parenthood was an “easily ascertainable” target of the law when it was passed and again mentioning that the block would apply to any affiliates of Planned Parenthood regardless of whether or not they themselves perform abortions at their facility.
With respect to the non-Planned Parenthood entities mentioned in legislation, Talwani labels them as “no more than collateral damage.” The judge believes that the plaintiffs are likely to succeed on this claim because the “outer bounds of the affected class [were] based on retrospective criteria.”
Regarding the plaintiffs’ claims about alleged equal protection violations, the debate in this case rests on whether or not the measure advances the goal of reducing the number and government subsidization of abortions.
Talwani argues that the bill was not “precisely tailored” toward preventing taxpayer funds from going toward abortions because the defendants do not dispute that “virtually all abortion providers who participate in Medicaid––other than Planned Parenthood Members––unaffected.”
“Plaintiffs are likely to establish that Congress singled them out with punitive intent,” Talwani wrote.
Click Here to Read the Full 58-Page Ruling
In joining this lawsuit, Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey suggested that the effort to defund Planned Parenthood is a “direct attack on the healthcare access of millions of low-income Americans, disproportionally affecting women, LGBTQ+ individuals, and communities of color.”
“With rural hospitals under constant threat, there are many rural and low-income Mainers without access to health care providers. Without Planned Parenthood and Maine Family Planning, these patients in Maine will simply have nowhere to turn for routine healthcare,” said Attorney General Frey.
Click Here to Read Attorney General Frey’s Full Statement
White House spokesperson Harrison Fields said in a statement to Reuters that the ruling was “not only absurd but illogical and incorrect.”
“It is orders like these that underscore the audacity of the lower courts as well as the chaos within the judicial branch,” said Fields. “We look forward to ultimate victory on the issue.”
