Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Neronha has joined 21 other attorneys general and one governor in a federal lawsuit challenging part of Republicans’ tax cut and spending law that blocks funding to Planned Parenthood.
Among the many provisions of the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” law signed by President Donald Trump last month is a clause that blocks federal Medicaid funding for essential medical services such as cancer screenings, birth control, STI testing, and wellness exams, provided at Planned Parenthood health centers.
Nationally, this “Defund Provision” could affect at least 200 health centers and more than 1.1 million patients, according to the complaint filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
The coalition is asking the court to stop the Trump Administration from implementing the provision, which it argued would lead to widespread disruptions in preventative care and increased health care costs if allowed to stand.
Planned Parenthood of Rhode Island provides essential health services to about 10,000 patients per year, and about 25% of those patients are Medicaid recipients.
“Rhode Island’s health care system is already in crisis, and this targeted funding cut will make it exponentially worse,” Neronha said in a statement. “Health care must be affordable and accessible for all Americans, and we will continue to fight against those who enact policies to the contrary.”
Neronha joins the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia, as well as the governor of Pennsylvania, in filing the lawsuit.
The complaint 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, Dr. Mehmet Oz. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is the only signatory serving as governor.
The plaintiffs said the Defund Provision is likely to increase spending in Medicaid programs by $30 million over the next five years and $52 million over the next 10 years.
A May study from the Guttmacher Institute, a research and policy organization focused on sexual and reproductive health, found that other clinics for low-income patients lacked the capacity to absorb patients who get care from Planned Parenthood.
This story was originally published by the Rhode Island Current.
