Most Planned Parenthood Clinics Are Ineligible for Medicaid Money After Court Ruling
The New York Times, July 22, 2025
Most Planned Parenthood clinics are now cut off from Medicaid funding, after a court ruling. A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction on Monday night that allowed only a fraction of Planned Parenthood health centers to receive Medicaid payments for services like birth control, annual checkups and tests for sexually transmitted diseases. While the judge is open to extending the injunction to cover more clinics, for now most of them are not covered by the order. Judge Indira Talwani, of the Federal District Court in Massachusetts, said that in all, 10 affiliates were covered under her injunction, including Planned Parenthood Association of Utah, Planned Parenthood of Delaware, Planned Parenthood Greater Texas, Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, and Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi. Planned Parenthood sued the Trump Administration on July 7 over a provision in the new domestic policy law that effectively bars its health clinics from receiving Medicaid payments for any medical services. The same day, the judge issued a 14-day restraining order that allowed virtually all Planned Parenthood affiliates to continue receiving Medicaid payments. That order has expired. The provision in the law applies to nonprofit health centers that provide abortions, but with a threshold that only Planned Parenthood health centers seem large enough to meet: entities that generated $800,000 or more in revenue from Medicaid payments in the 2023 fiscal year. Judge Talwani ruled on Monday that affiliates like the one in Utah that do not exceed the $800,000 revenue threshold should continue to receive Medicaid funding while the lawsuit makes its way through the courts. And she said that affiliates that are in states where abortion is illegal, and thus do not provide the procedure, should continue to receive Medicaid reimbursements as well. Both sides in the dispute criticized the judge’s ruling.
Missouri Accuses Planned Parenthood of Downplaying Abortion Drug Risks
Reuters, July 23, 2025
Missouri’s Republican attorney general filed a lawsuit on Wednesday accusing reproductive healthcare provider Planned Parenthood of misleading women about the potential risks of using the abortion drug mifepristone.The lawsuit by the office of Attorney General Andrew Bailey claims Planned Parenthood tells patients that the drug is “safer than many other medicines like penicillin, Tylenol, and Viagra,” while not disclosing that up to 4.6% of women visit emergency rooms after taking it. The lawsuit in Missouri state court accuses Planned Parenthood of violating a state law banning deceptive business practices. The state is seeking millions of dollars in penalties, including up to $1,000 for each woman in Missouri who has been provided abortion pills by Planned Parenthood over the last five years. The FDA has repeatedly called mifepristone safe and effective as demonstrated over decades of use by millions of Americans, with rare adverse effects. According to the FDA, between 2.9% and 4.6% of women who take the drug then visit an emergency room, and up to 0.6% of women who use mifepristone are hospitalized. A widely-cited 2021 study that purported to show an increase in emergency room visits after using mifepristone has been retracted. In Wednesday’s lawsuit, Bailey’s office said that newer studies conducted since the administration of former President Joe Biden eased some restrictions on accessing mifepristone identified serious adverse effects in more than 10% of women who took a single dose of the drug.
Nevada Parental Notification Abortion Law in Effect; Planned Parenthood Lawsuit Seeks Halt
Associated Press, July 23, 2025
A 40-year-old Nevada law requiring minors having an abortion to first notify their parents or guardians is now in effect for the first time, after a federal district court judge lifted an administrative block Tuesday afternoon. The one-page order from District Court Judge Anne Traum came after a federal appellate judge earlier this week opted not to temporarily pause implementation of the never-enforced 1985 law while the federal appeal proceeds. In anticipation of the law going into effect, Planned Parenthood Mar Monte filed a new lawsuit in state court Monday seeking to halt its implementation. The California-based abortion rights group and health care provider, and a physician using the pseudonym Dr. Doe, filed a complaint for injunctive relief in Clark County’s District Court on Monday. They argue the 1985 law, SB510, relies on a “hazy, inadequate” process for minors to secure an exception to the law that violates guarantees of procedural due process and lacks guidance or rules to govern it. Shortly after SB510’s passage in 1985, the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada issued an injunction, saying the law violated the right to abortion under the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit agreed, making that injunction permanent even while the law stayed on the books. Following the overturn of the Roe v. Wade decision, which had protected the constitutional right to an abortion for about 50 years, district attorneys from Lyon County and Carson City in 2024 argued the 1985 law is now enforceable. They won an initial legal battle in April, but Traum agreed to continue the stay pending an appeal. That appeal is still pending and scheduled for oral arguments in October, but in a July 18 order, the 9th Circuit wrote that Planned Parenthood “failed to establish serious questions going to the merits on its argument” that would have justified the court issuing a temporary stay.
Federal Judge Permanently Blocks Part of TN Abortion Travel Ban on Free Speech Grounds
The Tennessean, July 20, 2025
A federal judge has permanently blocked a portion of a Tennessee law passed last year that makes it a felony to recruit or transport a minor for an illegal abortion without parental consent, following a First Amendment lawsuit over the phrasing of the law. All enforcement of the “recruitment” provision of the law is now permanently enjoined, following a July 18 ruling by Senior Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Julia Gibbons, sitting as district judge by designation. The ruling is the result of a June 2024 lawsuit filed by Tennessee State Representative Aftyn Behn, D-Nashville, and Nashville family law attorney Rachel Welty, who raised concerns over the portion of the law that criminalized anyone who “recruits” a minor for an abortion, calling it unconstitutional and vague. The term “recruit” is not defined in state code, which opponents of the law said could prove problematic for the First Amendment. Gibbons appeared to agree with the free speech concerns, stating that the recruitment portion of the law “prohibits speech encouraging lawful abortion while allowing speech discouraging lawful abortion.” Her ruling explicitly defends that “public advocacy, information sharing and counseling,” which includes informing Tennessee residents – both adults and minors – where they can receive out of state abortions is protected speech.
Texas Man Sues California Doctor Over Medication Abortion
Courthouse News Service, July 22, 2025
A Texas man filed a federal wrongful death lawsuit against a California doctor, claiming the doctor mailed abortion medication to his girlfriend. In the lawsuit, filed in the Southern District of Texas on Sunday, plaintiff Jerry Rodriguez seeks civil damages from a California doctor named Remy Coeytaux over what he says are violations of state and federal laws regarding the mailing of abortion medications. Although the nation’s high court blocked an anti-abortion group’s legal challenge to the Food and Drug Administration’s certification of the abortion drug mifepristone, the high-profile federal judge in Texas who oversaw that case allowed a parallel challenge from three state attorneys general to continue as of January. The Trump administration, however, asked the judge to dismiss the states’ lawsuit in May. And in many Republican-led states, including Texas, legislators have introduced several bills trying to curtail access to and distribution of abortion medications. In the lawsuit, Rodriguez claims his girlfriend took abortion medications on two separate occasions. According to Rodriguez, his girlfriend’s estranged ex-husband purchased the drugs from Coeytaux, who sent them across state lines. In addition to the claimed violations of state law, Mitchell argues that Coeytaux violated a dormant federal law known as the Comstock Act, which bars sending obscene material through the mail. The 1873 law specifically sought to block the mailing of pornography, contraceptives, and any abortion-inducing medicines or materials. Congress repealed the portion regarding contraceptive birth control in 1971, and the law has sat largely dormant since. But present-day opponents of abortion have pushed to use Comstock to block the distribution of abortion medication like mifepristone.
ICYMI: In Case You Missed It
A new issue brief from the National Partnership for Women & Families reveals how Congress’ reconciliation bill proves ineffective at at helping expand access to paid leave.
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