A federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction that blocks the Trump Administration from enforcing a provision in the recent federal budget bill, known as the “Defund Provision.” This measure would have excluded certain health centers, including Planned Parenthood, from receiving Medicaid reimbursements. These centers provide services such as cancer screenings, STI testing and treatment, and birth control to low-income patients.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong announced the decision from the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. He stated: “This order preserves access to vital, affordable healthcare for more than 1.1 million people nationwide. This order makes clear—the Defund Provision is unlawful, hurtful and states are on strong legal footing in our lawsuit. We’re going to keep fighting to keep partisan politics out of doctors’ offices and to ensure patients everywhere have access to essential healthcare.”
Attorney General Tong co-led a coalition of 22 attorneys general and Pennsylvania in filing a lawsuit against the Defund Provision on July 29. The group filed for a preliminary injunction on September 24.
The court found that states are likely to succeed in their case because the Defund Provision does not clearly define which providers are considered “prohibited entities,” as required by the Spending Clause of the U.S Constitution. The court also ruled that applying this provision retroactively was unlawful since states could not have anticipated such changes when joining Medicaid. The court concluded that allowing the provision to take effect would cause irreparable harm to states and determined that both equity and public interest support blocking its enforcement.
In a separate but related case—Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. v. Kennedy—the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit previously allowed implementation of the Defund Provision through an unpublished order issued on September 11, 2025.
Assistant Attorneys General Alma Nunley (Special Counsel for Reproductive Rights) and Janelle Medeiros (Special Counsel for Civil Rights) are supporting Attorney General Tong in this litigation.