On July 29, 2025, California Attorney General Rob Bonta, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and Connecticut Attorney General William Tong led a coalition of 22 state attorneys general plus the state of Pennsylvania in suing the Trump administration and the Department of Health and Human Services to block their unconstitutional efforts to strip federal Medicaid funding from Planned Parenthood and its member health centers.  

Planned Parenthood and its health centers provide critical primary healthcare services to millions of patients across the plaintiff states, and tens of millions of residents of the plaintiff states are Medicaid enrollees. The recent congressional reconciliation bill punished Planned Parenthood and its affiliate health centers for advocating for reproductive choice by forcing states to disqualify Planned Parenthood from Medicaid reimbursement. Congress’s defunding provision does not impact abortion care—federal law has long prohibited the use of federal funds to cover abortions aside from rare circumstances. Instead, prohibiting Medicaid payments to reimburse Planned Parenthood will block patients from receiving such essential care as cancer screenings, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, and family planning services. Plaintiff states will face an untenable choice of foregoing the essential healthcare services that Planned Parenthood provides, likely leading to delays in diagnoses, unplanned pregnancies, and increased long-term medical costs; or giving up hundreds of millions of dollars in Medicaid reimbursement. 

As the defunding provision is retaliation for Planned Parenthood’s work to advance reproductive rights, including abortion care (which constitutes less than 5% of the services provided by Planned Parenthood’s health centers), the defund provision is a violation of the organization’s First Amendment rights. Because states ultimately are responsible for administering Medicaid reimbursement to healthcare providers, the provision forces states to carry out these unconstitutional acts. The plaintiff states have asked the court to declare the provision unconstitutional and to block its enforcement. 

Let me be clear: Federal funds don’t pay for abortions. This provision is purely retaliation against Planned Parenthood for its constitutionally protected advocacy for abortion care. The President and Congress are implementing a cruel, backdoor abortion ban through this provision, putting their political agendas over people’s lives. Attorney General Rob Bonta