On December 12, a federal appeals court handed the pro-life movement a major victory. The court ruled that the Trump administration can strip Planned Parenthood of its Medicaid funding.
The First Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower court’s injunction that had blocked a key provision in Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” preventing taxpayer dollars from going to abortionists through Medicaid. The provision effectively defunds Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion business.
Planned Parenthood had argued the law violated their constitutional rights, but the court said Congress is free to decide how to spend taxpayer dollars.
Judge Gelpí explained that the law doesn’t punish Planned Parenthood for past actions. Instead, it simply gives them a choice: Stop doing abortions and keep getting taxpayer money, or keep aborting unborn children and lose the funding.
Planned Parenthood has claimed the funding cut could force them to close as many as 200 facilities.
In Arkansas, abortion is generally prohibited except to save the life of the mother, and the state cut ties with abortionists like Planned Parenthood many years ago.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that states are not required to fund abortionists, and the Arkansas Legislature and the governor have both blocked Planned Parenthood and its affiliates from receiving public tax dollars.
Planned Parenthood Great Plains still operates facilities in Little Rock and Rogers, but neither one performs abortions.
However, reports also show Planned Parenthood may be spending millions of dollars to help women cross state lines for abortion, and news outlets have highlighted how pro-abortion states are protecting abortionists who ship abortion drugs across the country. Those are serious concerns.
But the court ruling is still good news for Arkansas. It shows that Congress has the power to direct taxpayer funding away from abortionists, and it helps underscore that Arkansas lawmakers were right to defund Planned Parenthood.
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.
