In a high-stakes legal battle with sweeping implications for reproductive healthcare across the United States, a coalition of 21 state attorneys general has united to defend Planned Parenthood’s access to federal Medicaid funding. The coalition, led by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and joined by colleagues from states including California, Maryland, Minnesota, and New York, filed an amicus brief on October 20 and 21, 2025, supporting Planned Parenthood’s challenge to what has become known as the Defund Provision.
This provision, embedded in the recent Big Beautiful Bill Act passed under the Trump administration, threatens to cut off federal Medicaid funding for a range of non-abortion-related medical services provided by Planned Parenthood health centers. These services—spanning cancer screenings, birth control, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), primary care visits, pregnancy tests, and prenatal care—are critical to millions of Americans, particularly those in low-income, rural, and underserved communities.
According to the coalition, the Defund Provision was crafted with surgical precision to target Planned Parenthood, effectively fulfilling a long-standing political goal of punishing the organization for its role in providing and advocating for abortion care. Yet, as numerous attorneys general have pointed out, federal dollars are already barred from funding abortion services. The new provision, they argue, goes much further, threatening the full breadth of reproductive and preventive healthcare available to more than 1.1 million people who rely on over 200 Planned Parenthood health centers nationwide.
“This provision is a direct attack on access to health care for millions of low-income Americans and disproportionately harms women, LGBTQ+ individuals, and communities of color,” Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul stated, as reported by the Illinois Attorney General’s office. His sentiments were echoed by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who warned, “The Trump Administration will stop at nothing to cut Americans’ healthcare, all so it can keep lining billionaires’ pockets. Trump’s vendetta against Planned Parenthood, which provides essential healthcare to many tens of thousands of Minnesotans and millions of Americans a year, is unconscionable and unconstitutional.”
Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown was equally forthright, declaring, “The federal government is using access to quality healthcare as a political football. We will not stand by while it strips away essential health services from those who need them most.”
The numbers behind these warnings are stark. In the 2023–2024 fiscal year alone, Planned Parenthood delivered 9.45 million health services across the country. These included 425,000 cancer screening and prevention services, 2.2 million contraceptive services, and 4.1 million STI tests and treatments. Of these, approximately 400,000 were abortion services—a small fraction of the total and, crucially, none of which received federal funding, as repeatedly underscored in the coalition’s brief.
For many states, Planned Parenthood is not merely one provider among many. In rural and underserved areas, it is often the only provider willing and able to accept Medicaid patients for reproductive healthcare. According to the coalition’s brief, “other providers do not have the capacity to handle the high volume of patients that Planned Parenthood health centers currently treat.” In Minnesota, for example, one in six female Medicaid enrollees of reproductive age receives family planning services at Planned Parenthood, and the state’s 10 health centers rely on more than $9 million in annual Medicaid reimbursements to cover over 35,000 patient visits each year. The loss of this funding, Minnesota officials warn, could force these centers to close, leaving tens of thousands without viable alternatives.
The coalition’s amicus brief, filed in the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, supports a July 2025 federal district court decision that preliminarily blocked enforcement of the Defund Provision. The court concluded that Planned Parenthood had demonstrated a substantial likelihood of success on its claims that the provision violated the First Amendment, the Equal Protection clause, and the constitutional prohibition on bills of attainder. The attorneys general argue that allowing the provision to take effect would not only disrupt care for more than a million people but also place an unsustainable financial burden on states already grappling with federal funding cuts. If forced to use state funds to fully reimburse Planned Parenthood for Medicaid services, state budgets would be stretched to the breaking point.
In Minnesota, for example, replacing lost federal funds would require an additional $9 million per year—a daunting sum at a time of unprecedented fiscal strain. The coalition’s brief warns that if Planned Parenthood health centers are forced to close, “other providers would have to increase their caseloads by 28 percent to more than 100 percent, if they choose to accept the patients at all.”
Planned Parenthood’s lawsuit against the Trump administration’s Defund Provision is just one front in a broader legal battle. In July 2025, a coalition of 23 states, including Maryland and Minnesota, filed a separate lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, challenging the provision and seeking a preliminary injunction. That case, like the First Circuit appeal, remains pending.
Supporters of the Defund Provision argue that federal Medicaid dollars should not indirectly support organizations that provide abortion services, even if those dollars are earmarked for non-abortion care. They contend that the provision is a legitimate exercise of congressional authority to set conditions on federal funding. Opponents, however, see the measure as a punitive and discriminatory attack on reproductive healthcare access, one that disproportionately harms the most vulnerable Americans.
The coalition of attorneys general represents a wide swath of the country, including Connecticut, California, New York, Colorado, Delaware, Hawai’i, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia. Their united stance underscores the gravity of what is at stake—not just for Planned Parenthood, but for millions of Americans who depend on its services for basic healthcare needs.
As the legal battle continues, the outcome will have profound consequences for the nation’s healthcare landscape. For now, the preliminary injunction remains in place, preserving access to essential services for over a million people. But with the Trump administration appealing and the courts yet to issue a final ruling, the future of reproductive healthcare access in America hangs in the balance.
In the meantime, Planned Parenthood’s defenders are making it clear: for many Americans, the fight is not just about politics or policy—it’s about the fundamental right to health and dignity.
