A federal appeals court on Thursday allowed the Trump administration to stop sending taxpayer money to Planned Parenthood.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit ruled the Trump administration can begin enforcing the provision of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) which defunds the abortion industry of federal Medicaid money (Defund provision).
The provision, which prohibits Medicaid dollars from going to entities that provide abortions, and lasts for one year, was set to cost Planned Parenthood roughly $800 million.
The unanimous decision by the three-judge panel stays a preliminary injunction issued by federal district Judge Indira Talwani that had blocked the Defund provision from taking effect while a lawsuit, filed by Planned Parenthood, plays out. The judge was appointed to the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts by former President Barack Obama.
Congress enacted the OBBBA in July, and President Trump signed it into law on July 4. Just three days later, Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit arguing the Defund provision was an unconstitutional “bill of attainder.”
A bill of attainder is a legislative provision that punishes a party perceived of a crime without due process. Such legislative actions are prohibited under Article 1 Section 9 of the Constitution.
Within hours, Judge Talwani sided with Planned Parenthood issuing an injunction forcing the Trump administration to “take all steps necessary to ensure that Medicaid funding continues to be disbursed in the customary manner and timeframes to Planned Parenthood Association of Utah and other Planned Parenthood Federation of America [m]embers.”
In other words, Judge Talwani ordered the Trump administration to violate the law.
Now, the First Circuit has stayed (stopped) Judge Talwani’s order for the time being.
The ruling comes as something of a surprise, since the First Circuit is widely seen as the most liberal federal appellate court in the nation.
All five active judges on the court were nominated by Democrat presidents. And all three appeals court judges assigned to the case – Judges Gelpí, Montecalvo, and Aframe – were nominated to the court by former President Joe Biden.
But perhaps that speaks to just how incomprehensible and incorrect Judge Talwani’s decision was.
In its motion requesting the First Circuit stay the judge’s decision, the Department of Health and Human Services called her logic “flimsy” and argued the Supreme Court has a very high standard for invalidating laws under the bill of attainder clause
“Halting federal subsidies bears no resemblance to the punishments – including death, banishment, and imprisonment – previously understood as implicating the clause,” HHS wrote.
Indeed, under the Constitution, Congress – not an unelected federal judge – holds the power of the purse. Congress can fund, or defund, whatever it chooses for whatever reason.
Article 1 Section 9 of the Constitution states, “No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law.”
“We are pleased the 1st Circuit has shut down Big Abortion’s desperate money grab,” said Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser in a statement following the court’s ruling. “The American people, through Congress, spoke clearly with the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”
Dannenfelser added, “Taxpayers should not be forced to spend a dime funding a brutal industry that ends at least 1.1 million lives a year, harms women while providing dwindling, substandard health care services, and engages in partisan political activism – especially when more accessible, more comprehensive options outnumber Planned Parenthoods 15 to 1. We are confident the Trump administration will prevail against the abortion industry’s lawfare.”
The Daily Citizen will keep you updated as this case proceeds. For now, we’re grateful the First Circuit saw the light and agreed to stay Judge Talwani’s preliminary injunction.
Taxpayer dollars should not go to an organization that kills over 400,000 preborn children every year, while making $206 million in profit over the last two years.
That’s especially true when a law – enacted though the democratic process, passed by Congress and signed by the president – says so.
Daily Citizen is a news division of Focus on the Family that provides a faith-based perspective to counter the mainstream media’s anti-Christian bias.
