Planned Parenthood said it has ended its own legal fight over Medicaid cuts tied to provisions in President Donald Trump’s tax bill, moving late Friday to voluntarily dismiss the lawsuit after a federal appeals court ruling in December. The organization said the decision leaves other challenges intact, including a separate lawsuit by a coalition of mostly Democratic states that received a similar blow in January but remains in court.
In its statement, Planned Parenthood said the goal of the lawsuit had been to help patients receive care from their “trusted provider,” and it cited the First Circuit’s decision as the reason the case was no longer the “best way” to accomplish that aim. The lawsuit named Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., according to the filing and reporting surrounding the case.
The Medicaid cuts at issue stem from a tax provision that, under the policy described by Planned Parenthood, would end Medicaid payments for providers such as Planned Parenthood if they primarily offer family planning services—including contraception, abortion and pregnancy tests—and received more than $800,000 from Medicaid in 2023. Planned Parenthood said it was not specifically named in the statute, but its leaders have said the law was intended to affect nearly 600 of its health centers across the country.
The legal timeline described by Planned Parenthood’s attorneys traces back to when the organization began fighting to block the Medicaid funding changes after the tax bill took effect on July 4. Planned Parenthood had sought to stop the administration from cutting off Medicaid funding for its abortion providers, arguing the changes would leave vulnerable patients with fewer health care options.
In December, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit ruled that the Trump administration could continue to withhold Medicaid funding from Planned Parenthood and other health centers. After that ruling, Planned Parenthood said it sent an email seeking comment from Kennedy—who was named in the lawsuit—on Monday.
Planned Parenthood also pointed to the status of other related litigation. It said a coalition of mostly Democratic states filed a separate lawsuit challenging the cuts, which was given a similar setback in January but remains ongoing. The organization noted a third lawsuit filed in Maine by a network of clinics that had also been affected by the tax bill was voluntarily dismissed in October.
Planned Parenthood said nearly half of its patients rely on Medicaid, and it cited the impact it says the policy has already had on its network of clinics. The organization said 23 of its health clinics have been forced to close as a result of the tax bill’s change, and it said more than 50 clinics closed in 18 states in the previous year, with most of those closures in the Midwest.
Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said the administration and allies in Congress had “weaponized the federal government to target Planned Parenthood at the expense of patients,” according to the organization’s statement. She said Planned Parenthood’s focus remained on ensuring patients can get the care they need from the provider they trust, and she added that the organization’s priorities would not change.