On Monday, a federal judge ruled that a network of clinics in Maine will not resume receiving Medicaid funds to treat thousands of low-income patients during its lawsuit over Trump administration cuts to abortion providers, AP News’ Patrick Whittle reported.
“The decision against Maine Family Planning came despite a ruling last month by another federal judge, who said Planned Parenthood clinics around the country must continue to be reimbursed for Medicaid funding as the provider wrangles with the Trump administration over efforts to defund it. That legal fight continues,” Whittle wrote.
“At issue,” Zach Montague with The New York Times explained, “is a provision of the tax and spending bill Congress passed in July that would deny abortion providers Medicaid funding even for health services other than performing abortions.”
“In a blunt, 19-page opinion, Judge Lance E. Walker of the Federal District Court in Maine wrote that particularly after the Supreme Court’s decision in 2022 that overturned Roe v. Wade, he could neither consider abortion services a constitutional right nor stop Congress from advancing laws to defund organizations that provide them,” Montague reported.
Lauren McCauley and Eesha Pendharkar with the Maine Morning Star noted that “The law has already forced Maine’s largest reproductive healthcare provider to stop accepting new primary care patients enrolled in MaineCare, the state’s Medicaid program. Now, they may have no choice but to close clinics, cut services, or severely limit the number of patients served, according to a statement by Maine Family Planning in reaction to Walker’s decision. These disruptions will destabilize the entire state health infrastructure, impacting patients who rely on Medicaid as well as those who don’t, the organization warned.”
“Maine Family Planning said it has been unable to access Medicaid funding since July 4, when Trump signed the “One Big, Beautiful Bill” into law,” the Maine Morning Star’s reporters wrote.
“This ruling is a devastating setback for Mainers who depend on us for basic primary care,” said George Hill, president and CEO of Maine Family Planning, in a statement. “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.”
