AG Brown joins brief opposing unlawful defunding of Planned Parenthood

Washington Attorney General Nick Brown today joined a coalition of 21 attorneys general filing an amicus brief in the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit supporting Planned Parenthood in its challenge to the Trump administration’s unlawful efforts to defund the nonprofit’s health centers. 

The so-called Defund Provision, enacted as part of the Big Beautiful Bill Act, blocks federal Medicaid funding for essential medical services such as cancer screenings, birth control, STI testing, and wellness exams provided at “prohibited entities.” The criteria for a “prohibited entity” were crafted so that this Defund Provision applies almost exclusively to Planned Parenthood, fulfilling a long-standing goal of punishing Planned Parenthood for providing and advocating in support of abortion care. 

The Defund Provision threatens at least 200 Planned Parenthood health centers nationwide, affecting healthcare for more than 1.1 million people, many of whom are unlikely to be able to receive care elsewhere. 

Washington joined a coalition of 23 states in July suing the Trump administration to prevent implementation of the Defund Provision and filed a motion for a preliminary injunction in September. That case is pending in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. Planned Parenthood also filed a parallel challenge.

The District Court preliminarily enjoined enforcement of the Defund Provision in that case, concluding that Planned Parenthood had demonstrated a substantial likelihood of success on their claims that the Defund Provision violated the First Amendment and the Equal Protection clause. The brief filed today supports that preliminary injunction, providing the First Circuit with additional evidence of the irreparable injury that implementation of the Defunding Provision would have on the amici states and their citizens.

“Tens of thousands of Washingtonians rely on Planned Parenthood for essential health services like primary care, cancer screenings, and family planning,” said Brown. “The Trump administration’s attack on reproductive freedom threatens an even broader range of health services for our communities, particularly individuals who receive Medicaid.”

Planned Parenthood is the largest provider of sexual and reproductive healthcare in the United States. Because many other providers elect not to accept Medicaid patients, Planned Parenthood is often one of the only providers of reproductive healthcare services in rural and underserved areas, the brief states. In Washington, Planned Parenthood provides 59% of all sexual and reproductive healthcare for Medicaid patients. 

In fiscal year 2023 to 2024, Planned Parenthood provided 9.45 million services across the country, including 425,000 cancer screening and prevention services, 2.2 million contraceptive services, 4.1 million tests and treatments for sexually transmitted infections, as well as primary care visits, pregnancy tests and prenatal services. Of those 9.45 million services, Planned Parenthood provided approximately 400,000 abortion services, a small fraction of the services provided to patients. Planned Parenthood receives no federal funding for abortion care. 

The brief states that other providers do not have the capacity to handle the high volume of patients that Planned Parenthood health centers currently treat. If Planned Parenthood health centers are forced to close, which some already have because of the Defunding Provision, other providers would have to increase their caseloads by 28% to more than 100%, if they choose to accept the patients at all. 

State budgets are limited, and using state funds to fully reimburse Planned Parenthood for all Medicaid services would strain state finances at a time where states are already dealing with unprecedented levels of federal funding cuts. In Washington, that would require $11 million.

Joining Brown in filing the brief are the attorneys general of Connecticut, California, New York, Colorado, Delaware, Hawai’i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and the District of Columbia.

A copy of the brief can be found here.

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