Trump administration can stop Medicaid spending to Planned Parenthood for now, appeals court rules
By Katelyn Polantz, CNN
(CNN) — A federal appeals court is allowing the Trump administration to move forward in its plan to stop providing Medicaid reimbursement to large abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood, for now.
The 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals gave the order on Thursday, while appeals continue over the legality of the section of President Donald Trump’s sweeping tax and spending cuts bill law passed by Congress that restricts Medicaid funding.
The appeals court said the Trump administration can halt the funding, overriding a lower court that blocked it from doing so.
The Trump administration argued, successfully, that the congressionally approved law should go into effect while appeals courts, including the Supreme Court, weigh it.
The Medicaid determination will go into effect based on whether a health care provider is providing abortions as of October 1 and receives more than $800,000 in Medicaid payments in a year.
“The elected Branches determined that taxpayer funds should not be used to subsidize certain entities that practice abortion – conduct that many Americans find morally abhorrent,” the Justice Department argued last month to the First Circuit.
The First Circuit will hear more substantive arguments in the case. The case is before Judges Gustavo Gelpi, Lara Montecalvo and Seth Aframe, all of whom were appointed to the appeals court by Democratic President Joe Biden.
“We will continue to fight this unconstitutional law, even though this court has allowed it to impact patients,” Planned Parenthood Federation of America President and CEO Alexis McGill Johnson said in a statement. “Patients who rely on the essential health care that Planned Parenthood health centers provide, can’t plan for their futures, decide where they go for care, or control their lives, bodies, and futures — all because the Trump administration and its backers want to attack Planned Parenthood and shut down health centers.”
The-CNN-Wire
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