New York AG Letitia James joins coalition of fellow AG’s in suing federal government over threats to defund Planned Parenthood through ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ Act
ALBANY, NY- New York Attorney General Letitia James has joined a coalition of nearly two-dozen fellow attorneys’ general in suing the federal government over a provision of the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act’ that threatens to defund Planned Parenthood.
With the State of Pennsylvania joining in, Attorney General James and the coalition claim the provision in question prohibits Medicaid funding from going to non-profit health care clinics that receive a certain amount of Medicaid funding and provide abortions.
The provision is known as Section 71113:
***Taken directly from Congress.gov*** "(Sec. 71113) This section prohibits federal Medicaid payment for one year to nonprofit health care providers that serve predominantly low-income, medically underserved individuals (i.e., essential community providers) if the provider (1) primarily furnishes family planning services, reproductive health, and related care; (2) offers abortions in cases other than that of rape, incest, or life-threatening conditions for the woman; and (3) in FY2023, received federal and state Medicaid payments totaling more than $800,000."
This, according to AG James, is criteria that almost exclusively applies to Planned Parenthood clinics. As a result, the coalition says millions of low-income people who rely on Planned Parenthood for cancer screenings, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and family planning services are at risk of being left without access to this necessary care.
Attorney General James and the coalition argue that the new restriction is unconstitutional, retaliatory, and deeply harmful to public health, particularly for low-income and underserved communities that rely on Planned Parenthood clinics for essential health care.
“The federal government is once again playing politics with our health care system, with devastating consequences,” said Attorney General James.
“This administration’s shameful and illegal targeting of Planned Parenthood will make it harder for millions of people to get the health care they need. New York will not be bullied into enforcing this unconstitutional attack on health care and reproductive freedom.”
In 2023 alone, 89,000 New Yorkers enrolled in Medicaid received care at Planned Parenthood clinics, which provided tens of thousands of STI tests, cancer screenings, and contraceptive services, the coalition says.
Cutting off that funding would devastate access, especially for low-income New Yorkers, young people, and people of color, Attorney General James declared.
As Attorney General James and the coalition argue, this targeted provision in OBBA forces states into a lose-lose position: either block Planned Parenthood from Medicaid entirely – forcing clinics to close and leaving patients without care – or pay for those services with state funds, forfeiting millions in federal funding.
New York Attorney General Letitia James image.
