A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
A federal judge has ruled that Congress and the Trump administration are not allowed to stop Planned Parenthood from getting Medicaid payments. The tax and spending bill that passed earlier this month included a provision to block that money. NPR's Katia Riddle is here to tell us all about the ruling. So Katia, what were the stakes of this law?
KATIA RIDDLE, BYLINE: It would've financially crippled Planned Parenthood. If you read the law, you will not find the words Planned Parenthood written anywhere. What it does say is that certain nonprofit abortion providers are no longer eligible to receive Medicaid payments. And the way this was crafted, it's clear that Planned Parenthood is the intended target. Planned Parenthood estimates this would shut down half of their clinics across the country that provide abortions.
MARTÍNEZ: So you're saying that after the judge's ruling on Monday, that that is not going to go into effect?
RIDDLE: That's correct. Planned Parenthood immediately filed a lawsuit when the legislation passed, and a federal judge in Massachusetts ruled in Planned Parenthood's favor. Judge Indira Talwani issued a decisive and strongly worded ruling. She found this law to be unconstitutional and pointed out that it singled out this one organization. She wrote that it was, quote, "legislative punishment" and violated Planned Parenthood's First Amendment rights and that it would jeopardize other kinds of health care, not just abortion care.
MARTÍNEZ: Other kinds of health care. How would it threaten other kinds of health care?
RIDDLE: Planned Parenthood is perhaps, you know, best known as an abortion provider, but a lot of what it does is provide just routine health care - cancer screenings, birth control and other kinds of contraception. And in many cases in rural parts of the country, it's one of the only places to get this kind of care in the area. Planned Parenthood said that if these clinics were forced to shut down, it would have deprived women of this basic health care along with abortion services. I spoke with Michelle Velasquez. She's with Planned Parenthood in Wisconsin. There are 21 Planned Parenthood clinics in that state, and here's what she said.
MICHELLE VELASQUEZ: This current decision means that people who have appointments or are coming in this week for their STI testing and treatment or to get some new birth control or have a cancer screening, and they're covered by Medicaid - it means that there is no doubt about whether or not we can provide that care.
RIDDLE: The thing is, you can't just excise their ability to provide this one service. If you remove this funding, it jeopardizes the whole organization, as well as abortion care in states where the procedure is legal.
MARTÍNEZ: So what kind of reactions have you seen to this decision?
RIDDLE: NPR received a statement from Andrew Nixon. He's a spokesperson for HHS. It said, quote, "we strongly disagree with the court's decision. States should not be forced to fund organizations that have chosen political advocacy over patient care. This ruling undermines state flexibility and disregards long-standing concerns about accountability," unquote. From the Planned Parenthood side, there was generally a feeling of relief.
MARTÍNEZ: OK. Now, what happens now?
RIDDLE: The Planned Parenthood folks that I talked to made it clear that they are preparing for an appeals process and underscored that 200 Planned Parenthood health centers in 24 states are at risk of closure if this law were to go into effect. One spokesperson there told me, quote, "this is just the beginning of the fight."
MARTÍNEZ: NPR's Katia Riddle, thanks a lot.
RIDDLE: Thank you.
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