Judge Lance E. Walker ruled that Congress can defund Maine Family Planning because the organization offers abortion services, resulting in thousands of low-income Mainers losing primary medical care including birth control, cancer screenings, and STI testing. The Big Beautiful Bill's Defund Provision bars any nonprofit offering abortion services that received $800,000 or more in Medicaid revenue in 2023 from receiving reimbursements. Most providers fall below that threshold, but Planned Parenthood and Maine Family Planning met it. Planned Parenthood sued, and an Obama-appointed judge in Massachusetts wrote the provision was "likely unconstitutional." Maine Family Planning sought a temporary injunction.
Judge Lance E. Walker, who was appointed to the Federal District Court in Maine by President Donald Trump in 2018, ruled that Congress can defund Maine Family Planning, the state's largest reproductive health care provider, because the organization offers abortion services. As a result, thousands of low-income Mainers just lost their only source of medical care, including access to birth control, cancer screenings, and STI testing.
In July, Maine Family Planning sued the Trump administration over the Defund Provision of the Big, Beautiful (piece-of-absolute-shit) Bill, which states that any nonprofit offering abortion services and receiving $800,000 or more in revenue from Medicaid payments in 2023 is now barred from receiving those reimbursements. The provision doesn't explicitly name any organization, but most abortion providers aren't even close to hitting that $800,000 threshold, except for Planned Parenthood. And Maine Family Planning.
After the bill passed on July 4, Planned Parenthood immediately sued the administration for violating their First Amendment rights, claiming the provision's wording was a backdoor way to punish them for their abortion advocacy, thereby violating their freedom of speech. They filed their suit in Massachusetts, and an Obama-appointed judge ruled in Planned Parenthood's favor on July 28, writing that the provision was "likely unconstitutional."
Collection
[
|
...
]