Family Planning Association of Maine v. Department of Health and Human Services et al.

Why This Matters: 

The plaintiffs challenge a provision in the recently enacted reconciliation legislation prohibiting certain health centers that provide abortions that fall outside of the narrow exceptions in the Hyde Amendment, including those associated with Planned Parenthood, from receiving Medicaid reimbursement for one year as violating the Due Process Clause of the Constitution. These clinics provide access to care for many clinically underserved and low-income populations, and this provision could force clinics to close or reduce their service areas, eroding access to maternal health care and other non-abortion services. This appeal addresses whether the district court erred in denying the plaintiff’s motion for preliminary injunction.

Potential Impact: 

Terminating funding could force qualifying clinics to close and eliminate essential services, which would leave countless individuals without necessary access to sexual and reproductive health care, as well as general preventive health services.