Appeals Court Lets Trump Defund Planned Parenthood
A federal appeals court ruled on Friday that a provision of U.S. President Donald Trump's signature tax and domestic policy bill that deprives Planned Parenthood and local affiliates that perform abortions of Medicaid funding is not an unconstitutional punishment.The Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned, opens new tab a preliminary injunction issued in July by a lower-court judge who had concluded that the law likely violated the U.S. Constitution by targeting Planned Parenthood's health centers as punishment for providing abortions.
Planned Parenthood says at least 20 health centers have closed since Trump signed the measure into law in July. The appeals court allowed it to take effect in September while it considered the administration's appeal of U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani's injunction. Talwani was appointed by Barack Obama.
Talwani recently in a different case also blocked the law's enforcement in 22 Democratic-led states and the District of Columbia that had also challenged it on different grounds. But the appeals court has temporarily stayed that ruling while it considers whether to lift her injunction while it reviews that case.
Alexis McGill Johnson, who heads Planned Parenthood Federation of America, in a statement said Friday's ruling enables the Trump administration's "attempts to block access to care for patients most in need and force Planned Parenthood health centers to the financial brink."
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