A network of health clinics in Maine is set to ask a federal judge on Thursday to reinstate Medicaid reimbursements while challenging the Trump administration’s move to block funding to abortion providers.
The funding dispute stems from provisions in former President Donald Trump’s policy and tax package—dubbed the “big beautiful bill”—that halted Medicaid payments to Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider.
The restrictions also affected Maine Family Planning, a smaller nonprofit that delivers health care across one of the poorest and most rural regions in the Northeast.
Maine Family Planning filed a federal lawsuit last month, arguing the cut is unlawful and seeking an immediate restoration of payments. The organization operates 18 clinics, offering cervical cancer screenings, contraception, and primary care to low-income residents. Clinic officials emphasize that Medicaid funds are not used for abortion services.
Without reinstated funding, the nonprofit warns it will be forced to end all primary care services for all patients—insured or not—by the end of October. The group says about 8,000 people rely on its clinics annually, with roughly 70% seeing no other health provider in a given year. Many of its locations serve isolated rural areas with no alternative medical options.
Federal officials maintain the funding cutoff is justified. In court filings, Anne Marie Costello, deputy director of the Center for Medicaid & CHIP Services, called Maine Family Planning’s request “legally groundless” and argued it seeks to revive a constitutional right to abortion that the Supreme Court has already overturned.
The bill does not name Planned Parenthood directly, but bars Medicaid reimbursements to organizations primarily engaged in family planning services—such as contraception, abortion, and pregnancy testing—that received more than $800,000 in Medicaid funds in 2023.
While previous attempts to defund Planned Parenthood failed, Maine Family Planning contends the threshold was lowered from $350 million in a 2017 proposal to $800,000 in order to ensure other providers, including theirs, would also be affected.
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