Defunded and Defeated: Trump Scores Win as Planned Parenthood Drops Lawsuit for Tax Dollars

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In a significant legal win for the Trump administration and the pro-life movement, Planned Parenthood dropped its court case to restore federal funding through Medicaid.

Last year, President Donald Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill that, among other things, defunded the nation’s largest abortion provider for a full year.

The defunding, though temporary, itself was a long-sought achievement for pro-life lawmakers.

In September, the U.S. First Circuit of Appeals ruled to allow the Trump administration to withhold Medicaid reimbursements to Planned Parenthood while the appeals proceed.

On Friday, the plaintiffs—Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and state affiliates in Massachusetts and Utah—dismissed their complaint.

“Planned Parenthood and others have spent months running to court to claw back more than half a billion dollars and subvert the will of the taxpayers, who strongly oppose being forced to fund the destruction of human lives,” Katie Daniel, director of legal affairs and policy counsel for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, told The Daily Signal.

“Abortion businesses are not entitled by the Constitution to taxpayer dollars, and their efforts will not succeed.”

While a win for pro-life supporters, there are separate ongoing court cases involving Democrat-run states defending funding state Planned Parenthood clinics.

Further, unless Congress acts in an additional reconciliation bill, federal funding of Planned Parenthood will resume in July, noted Melanie Israel, visiting fellow at The Heritage Foundation.

“It’s a win for women, girls, and unborn babies when Planned Parenthood gives up its quest to force taxpayers to foot the bill for Big Abortion – over half a billion dollars per year, to be precise,” Israel told The Daily Signal. “We’ve known all along that nothing in the Constitution entitles Planned Parenthood to the American people’s hard-earned tax dollars.”

Pro-life groups have pushed for a full 10-year defunding provision before Planned Parenthood funding returns in July, she said.

“Denying big abortion its big payday doesn’t mean cutting funding for women’s healthcare generally,” Israel added. “Funding can still go toward real healthcare providers, including the thousands of Federally Qualified Health Centers and pregnancy resource centers that vastly outnumber Planned Parenthood clinics.”

Last year, the abortion group’s annual report covering the years 2023 through 2024 found it had more than $2.5 billion in net assets, with $792.2 million in government funding. During that time period, the group conducted 402,230 abortions, an increase from the previous annual report that showed 392,715 abortions.

Planned Parenthood has argued that federal dollars do not go to abortions at affiliate clinics, but rather to other women’s health care services. Critics have long noted that the money is fungible.

Planned Parenthood leaders have vowed to fight for funding on other fronts.

“President Trump and his allies in Congress have weaponized the federal government to target Planned Parenthood at the expense of patients — stripping people of the care they rely on,” Alexis McGill Johnson, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a public statement.

“Through every attack, Planned Parenthood has never lost sight of its focus: ensuring patients can get the care they need from the provider they trust.”