AG Brown secures order blocking attempt to defund Planned Parenthood, other health centers

Attorney General Nick Brown today announced that he and a coalition of attorneys general have secured a preliminary injunction from the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts blocking a provision in the recently enacted federal budget bill that unlawfully targets Planned Parenthood.

The provision specifically blocks Medicaid reimbursements for healthcare services obtained at Planned Parenthood health centers, including cancer screenings, birth control, and testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections. This defunding is a direct attack on the healthcare access of millions of low-income Americans who rely on Medicaid for these services.

“This victory will allow patients to continue to access essential health services like primary care, cancer screenings, and family planning,” said Brown. “We will continue fighting against any attempt to strip Medicaid funding from Washington.”

Defunding Planned Parenthood threatens at least 200 health centers nationwide, affecting healthcare for more than 1.1 million people, many of whom are unlikely to be able to receive care elsewhere. The cuts would affect 30 Planned Parenthood clinics across Washington state where nearly half of the patients use Medicaid to access needed healthcare services. The federal government’s action threatens to strip $11.8 million from Washington state.

On July 29, Brown joined a coalition of 24 states in filing a lawsuit to prevent the Trump administration from implementing this devastating and illegal provision, which would lead to widespread disruptions in essential healthcare and increased costs if allowed to stand. On September 24, the coalition filed a motion for a preliminary injunction. In yesterday’s decision, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts wrote that:

• The states are likely to succeed on the merits. The court held that the defund provision fails to provide clear notice of the full scope of providers that qualify as “prohibited entities,” as required by the Spending Clause of the U.S Constitution. In addition, the court held that the defund provision acts as an unlawful retroactive condition because it constitutes a change that the states could not have anticipated when joining Medicaid.
• The defund provision would result in irreparable harm to the states if allowed to stay in effect.

In a related lawsuit, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. v. Kennedy, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit issued an unpublished order on Sept. 11, 2025, granting the Trump administration’s request to allow the defund provision to go into effect temporarily while the court considered the merits of that case. Yesterday’s ruling is independent of the First Circuit’s order, and would need to be separately appealed if the federal government wants to continue defending its unlawful attack on Americans’ healthcare. Tuesday’s ruling was put on hold for seven days to allow the federal government an opportunity to appeal.

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