Federal judge OKs Medicaid defunding of Maine’s largest reproductive health care provider

Siding with the Trump administration, a federal judge is allowing the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to halt Medicaid payments to reproductive health care providers in Maine.

Maine Family Planning, which operates 18 clinics across the state, had asked the court for a temporary injunction to block a provision in congressional Republicans’ massive tax cut and spending law from taking effect, arguing in court on August 14 that it would cause the agency and its clients irreparable harm. 

On Monday, Judge Lance Walker of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine, an appointee of President Donald Trump, issued the decision denying Maine Family Planning’s request, despite the organization facing potential layoffs, losses of up to $1.9 million and disruption of care for about 8,000 patients.

Maine Family Planning did not demonstrate the irreparable harm it claimed to face, Walker wrote in his decision. He also acknowledged that after the U.S. Supreme Court decision that eliminated the constitutional right to an abortion, Maine Family Planning and other providers knew about the increased risk of losing federal funding for continuing to provide abortions and that the provider still “stood firm in its mission.” 

“Over the years, political winds have shifted and [Maine Family Planning] can only be understood as voluntarily standing its ground … despite the dramatically increased likelihood of defunding after Dobbs,” he said. “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.”

Medicaid funding can’t be used for abortions, but Maine Family Planning and other reproductive health care providers have argued that they are being targeted for continuing to offer abortions alongside may other health care services.

The law has already forced Maine’s largest reproductive health care 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. 

“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. “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.”

In a similar case Planned Parenthood filed against the Trump administration, a federal judge granted the organization a temporary injunction. That means Maine Family Planning will the the only reproductive health care provider in Maine impacted by the law.

Maine Family Planning makes case to restore Medicaid funding for reproductive health care providers

Without Maine Family Planning clinics, thousands of rural patients would have nowhere else to access cancer screenings, STI testing, contraception and annual checkups, argued Meetra Mehdizadeh, senior attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights, the national organization representing the Maine plaintiff. Mehdizadeh noted that about 70% of Maine Family Planning’s 8,000 patients rely exclusively on the provider for health care needs.

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. 

Walker’s decision comes weeks after U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Massachusetts granted an emergency injunction for Planned Parenthood and its national affiliates after an initial injunction blocked only certain clinics receiving Medicaid funds under the new law.

Maine Family Planning filed the lawsuit in late July against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz.

Maine Family Planning has not yet said whether it plans to appeal Walker’s decision.