A federal judge in Massachusetts temporarily blocked a new law backed by President Trump that would have cut federal funding to Planned Parenthood for one year. The judge’s ruling puts on hold a provision that had already passed Congress and been signed into law by the president.
Key Facts:
- U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani granted a temporary restraining order against a funding cut to Planned Parenthood.
- The funding cut was included in a bill signed by President Trump on July 4, 2025.
- The original bill called for a 10-year cut, but the Senate parliamentarian reduced it to one year.
- Planned Parenthood argued the cut could shut down up to 200 clinics nationwide.
- Talwani was appointed by President Obama in 2013.
The Rest of The Story:
Planned Parenthood sued the Trump administration over a one-year funding cut included in a recently passed federal spending bill.
The organization claimed the cut would threaten not just abortion services but also general healthcare offerings such as cancer screenings and STI treatment.
Just three days after the bill became law, Judge Indira Talwani issued a temporary restraining order, halting the funding restriction from going into effect.
Planned Parenthood President Alexis McGill Johnson said the court case is “about making sure that patients who use Medicaid as their insurance…can continue to do so at their local Planned Parenthood health center.”
Pro-life groups blasted the decision.
Katie Daniel from Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America said Planned Parenthood was “running to the courts again to fix a crisis of their own making.”
Lila Rose of Live Action added that the judge’s action was “unjust judicial activism.”
An unelected judge has no authority to override the will of 77 MILLION Americans who voted to defund Planned Parenthood.
Last time I checked, the Constitution gives Congress, not activist judges, the power of the purse.
This abuse of power must be stopped.
— Rep. Mary Miller (@RepMaryMiller) July 7, 2025
Commentary:
This case isn’t about abortion rights—it’s about who controls federal spending.
Congress passed the bill. The President signed it.
The funding provision went through the democratic process and complied with Senate rules after adjustments by the parliamentarian.
Yet one judge has now overridden both branches of government with the stroke of a pen. That’s not a decision based on law—it’s a power grab.
Judge Talwani stepped outside the judicial lane and into budgetary territory, which is the constitutional domain of Congress and the Executive Branch.
This wasn’t an executive order or agency regulation up for debate.
This was part of a signed appropriations bill.
For a federal judge to halt a funding clause that has gone through all proper legislative channels defies the very concept of separation of powers.
The judiciary was never meant to be a super-legislature.
The Founders were clear: spending originates in the House, not in the courtroom.
Courts are supposed to interpret the law—not override it based on policy disagreements.
Judge Talwani’s order also applies nationwide, a practice that has drawn criticism even from the Supreme Court in past decisions.
Single-district judges issuing sweeping national injunctions is not just legally dubious—it’s destabilizing.
When courts start telling Congress where it can and can’t spend taxpayer dollars, we lose democratic accountability.
If Planned Parenthood disagrees with the law, their recourse should be elections, not judicial activism.
Every time a judge oversteps in this way, it chips away at the legitimacy of the judiciary itself.
This ruling deserves a prompt and firm reversal on appeal.
The Bottom Line:
A federal judge has blocked a legally passed and signed spending provision, siding with Planned Parenthood before the law could take effect.
This move bypasses Congress’s constitutional authority over the federal purse and overreaches the proper role of the courts.
If left unchecked, it sets a dangerous precedent for unelected judges to interfere with legislative decisions.
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