Federal judge blocks legislative attempt to defund Planned Parenthood

Among the contents of President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” was a provision aimed at defunding Planned Parenthood, America’s largest abortion chain.

Yet in a move which blindsided pro-life advocates, a federal judge has required that taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood continue. 

Obama-appointed judge issues temporary restraining order

According to Breitbart, that requirement came in the form of a temporary restraining order (TRO) issued on Monday by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani.

Talwani, who was nominated to the bench by former President Barack Obama in 2013, prohibited Planned Parenthood’s funding block from taking effect for 14 days.

Instead, she instructed the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to “take all steps necessary to ensure that Medicaid funding continues to be disbursed.”

Breitbart noted how Talwani issued her TRO on the same day that Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit challenging efforts to defund it.

Planned Parenthood warns of “devastating effects” from funding cut

The organization alleges that a loss of government money will have “devastating effects” and leave roughly 200 of its facilities at risk of shutting down.

“Many Planned Parenthood Members will be required to lay off staff and curtail services, with serious adverse consequences for the many patients served at those centers even if they do not use Medicaid to access services,” Planned Parenthood was quoted as saying in a statement.

BREAKING: A federal judge just blocked the “big beautiful bill’s” provision to defund Planned Parenthood. https://t.co/0UQIX7aw8w pic.twitter.com/WTT6N4xADW

— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) July 7, 2025

However, Fox News reported that Talwani’s ruling was quickly met with scorn from conservatives like Tom Jipping, who serves as senior legal fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation.

Sen. Mike Lee suggests that Talwani should be impeached

“What you have here is Congress exercising its explicit constitutional authority to make spending decisions, and you have a district judge arguably trying to exercise power she doesn’t have to force Congress to change,” Jipping told the network.

“I don’t know how fast that judge reads, but she issued her TRO within a couple of hours. That makes her court look like a fast food drive-through,” he asserted.

Meanwhile, Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee suggested to Fox News that the House of Representatives should initiate impeachment proceedings against Talwani.

“We have the best judicial system in the world, but it’s run by fallible, mortal humans. People make mistakes. But unless I’m missing something here, this wasn’t an honest mistake. This was a pretty egregious judicial usurpation of legislative power,” he told the network.

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