Gov. Josh Shapiro has signed onto a lawsuit alleging the federal government is illegally blocking Medicaid funds from going to Planned Parenthood and affiliated healthcare providers.
The suit centers on a provision of the recently passed mega bill, which enacts many of President Donald Trump’s domestic policy priorities. It bans Medicaid funding from going to nonprofit health care providers “primarily engaged in family planning services, reproductive health, and related medical care,” that received at least $800,000 in Medicaid funds in 2023, as well as their affiliates, for one year.
The complaint alleges that the criteria is narrow enough as to target Planned Parenthood clinics, effectively punishing the reproductive health care provider for its abortion rights advocacy. It calls this a violation of the organization’s First Amendment rights and says it harms Medicaid recipients who use their clinics’ services.
Planned Parenthood is the nation’s largest single provider of abortions. But it is also a major provider of reproductive health care generally, with over 2 million patients.
In a post on the social media platform X, Shapiro said the defunding provision “will rip away healthcare from thousands of Pennsylvanians.”
He added, “this unconstitutional decision threatens to close vital health care centers and deny Pennsylvanians essential, lifesaving care such as cancer screening and prevention, family planning services, and prenatal and postpartum care.”
Today, I'm suing the Trump Administration alongside 22 other states to stop them from unlawfully defunding Planned Parenthood, which will rip away healthcare from thousands of Pennsylvanians.
This unconstitutional decision threatens to close vital health care centers and deny…
— Governor Josh Shapiro (@GovernorShapiro) July 29, 2025
The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts Tuesday and names the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and its current leader, former Pennsylvania U.S. Senate candidate, Dr. Mehmet Oz.
It was signed by attorneys general in 21 other states and Washington, D.C. Shapiro is the only signatory serving as governor, or outside of an attorney general’s office.
All signatories are Democrats or working in Democrat-led offices.
Andrew Nixon, an HHS spokesperson, told the Capital-Star in a statement, “states should not be forced to fund organizations that have chosen political advocacy over patient care. It is a shame that these democrat attorney generals [sic] seek to undermine state flexibility and disregard longstanding concerns about accountability.”
The organization has an advocacy and political arm called the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, which supports political candidates.
A spokesperson for Shapiro declined to answer specific questions about why Shapiro, and not Republican state Attorney General Dave Sunday, signed onto the suit.
A spokesperson for Sunday did not respond to a request for comment before publication.
Federal law already prevents federal funds from being used to cover abortions, except in cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of a mother. However, Planned Parenthood has been allowed to receive federal funds for services like STI checks, cancer screenings and other reproductive health services.
Medicaid is a program funded in partnership by state and federal governments, but states administer the programs individually.
Blocking federal funds from reaching Planned Parenthood has long been a goal of right wing activists and lawmakers. The complaint filed Tuesday cites a statement made by U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) saying he “would like to” block funding for the organization.”
Attempts to target the group’s federal funding have been tried before, including a 2007 effort led by then-Indiana Rep. Mike Pence (later Trump’s vice president from 2017 to 2021), and a 2017 effort led by Republicans in Congress.
The first Trump administration also attempted to block some federal funds from reaching the organization through the use of executive power.
A separate lawsuit over the same law filed by Planned Parenthood resulted in an injunction earlier this week, effectively blocking the federal government from enforcing its Medicaid funding ban.
