A federal judge is seizing legislative power of the purse for herself

Federal judge Indria Talwani on Monday handed down her final preliminary injunction, forcing the Trump administration to continue sending Medicaid dollars to Planned Parenthood.

With breathtaking brashness, Talwani boldly asserted Planned Parenthood is “likely to succeed in showing that Section 71113 constitutes a Bill of Attainder and denies Planned Parenthood Federation and its Members equal protection of the law.”

To put it simply, Talwani’s legal reasoning is a mess.

Talwani accepted Planned Parenthood’s argument in the case that Section 71113 of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), signed into law by President Donald Trump on July 4, violates the abortion giant’s First Amendment right of association and is likely an unconstitutional “bill of attainder,” a legislative provision criminalizing a person or group without due process.

Section 71113 prohibits Medicaid dollars from going to any “prohibited entity” that “is primarily engaged in family planning services, reproductive health, and related medical care,” “provides for abortions” and exceeded $800,000 in Medicaid dollars in 2023. The provision applies for a period of one year.

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