(OSV News) ─ A federal judge in Maine declined on Aug. 25 to prevent the government from stripping Medicaid funding from a network of abortion providers in Maine, arguing that doing so would circumvent "the will of the people as expressed by Congress."
A provision in the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," which President Donald Trump signed into law July 4, would strip funds to health providers who also perform abortions -- most notably, particular Planned Parenthood affiliates -- from receiving Medicaid payments for one year. Although it was not named in the provision, Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion provider, sued in response, arguing the parameters for ending these funds effectively singled it out.
The same provision would also strip Maine Family Planning, a network of similar clinics in Maine, of these funds. In the course of its own lawsuit, Maine Family Planning's attorney argued it would be unfair to cut funding for its clinics "solely because Congress wanted to defund Planned Parenthood."
But U.S. District Judge Lance E. Walker for the District of Maine rejected this argument, ruling, "It would be a special kind of judicial hubris to declare that the public interest has been undermined by the public."
"Over the years, political winds have shifted and Plaintiff can only be understood as voluntarily standing its ground, from a corporate governance standpoint, despite the dramatically increased likelihood of defunding after (Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization)," Walker wrote. "Fair enough, but while its adherents may celebrate the firmness of its convictions, those convictions are not equal to the task of enjoining congressional will in this arena."
Maine Family Planning cast the ruling as a setback in a statement.
"This ruling is a devastating setback for Mainers who depend on us for basic primary care," George Hill, president and CEO of Maine Family Planning, said. "The loss of Medicaid funds -- which nearly half our patients rely on -- threatens our ability to provide life-saving services to communities across the state. Mainers' health should never be jeopardized by political decisions, and we will continue to fight for them."
Walker's ruling differed from a ruling in a separate lawsuit from Planned Parenthood from U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston, who ruled Planned Parenthood clinics nationwide must continue to be reimbursed for Medicaid funding, indefinitely blocking a provision in President Donald Trump's legislative agenda that would strip those funds for one year.
Legal scholars questioned the rationale of that ruling in comments to OSV News, with one describing it as "aggressive and broad."
Federal law generally prohibits the use of Medicaid funds for abortion. Supporters of allowing Planned Parenthood and similar abortion-providing entities to receive Medicaid funds argue that they provide cancer screening and prevention services -- such as pap tests and HPV vaccinations. But opponents argue the funds are fungible and could be used to facilitate abortion, and should be therefore blocked.
OSV News reached out to the Office of Public Policy at the Diocese of Portland, Maine -- the diocese covers the entire state -- for comment in reaction to the ruling, but did not receive an immediate response.
The Catholic Church teaches that all human life is sacred from conception to natural death, and as such, opposes direct abortion.
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Kate Scanlon is a national reporter for OSV News covering Washington. Follow her on X @kgscanlon.
