Momentous Abortion Defunding Victory – California’s Fight for Abortion Funding Dismissed After Unprecedented Seventh ACLJ Brief

This is a day pro-life Americans have been working toward for years. After a relentless, multifront legal campaign – seven amicus briefs, a parade of courtroom battles, and an unprecedented coalition of states trying to force taxpayers to fund the nation’s largest abortion provider – Planned Parenthood’s effort to maintain federal funding has collapsed.

From the moment the ACLJ was founded, we have operated on a foundational conviction: that every human life is sacred, that life begins at conception, and that no arm of government – and certainly no federal court – has the authority to compel American taxpayers to fund the destruction of innocent unborn children. That conviction has driven us into courtrooms across this country for decades. It is what drove us to file seven amicus briefs in defunding cases. And it is why today’s victory means so much.

When President Trump signed the “Big Beautiful Bill” on July 4, 2025, cutting off federal Medicaid reimbursements to large abortion providers under Section 71113, the abortion industry immediately launched a coordinated, multifront legal assault to force the money to keep flowing. The ACLJ jumped into the fight on Day One – and never looked back.

Take action with the ACLJ. Add your name to the petition: Stop the Abortion Industry’s War on Babies.

The Massachusetts Case. Planned Parenthood filed suit in the Massachusetts federal district court within days of the bill’s passage. When the district judge granted two sweeping preliminary injunctions – claiming the defunding violated Planned Parenthood’s First Amendment rights – we filed four amicus briefs fighting back, including urging the First Circuit to issue an emergency stay. The First Circuit granted the stay on September 11, cutting off Planned Parenthood’s funding while the case proceeded – and later issued a unanimous landmark ruling upholding Section 71113 in its entirety and vacating both injunctions. Win.

The Maine Case. Maine Family Planning opened a second legal front in Maine federal district court. We filed amicus briefs there at both the district and appellate levels arguing that no court can force Congress to spend money it specifically voted not to spend. The district court denied their injunction entirely, and after the First Circuit’s decisive ruling in the Planned Parenthood case, Maine Family Planning abandoned its appeal altogether and stipulated to dismissal. Win.

The California Coalition Case. Even as those cases were resolved, California organized a coalition of 22 states to file their own lawsuit – California et al. v. HHS – seeking to reimpose Planned Parenthood funding across their jurisdictions. We filed our seventh amicus brief there, and the First Circuit handed California a decisive defeat, granting a stay that allowed Section 71113 to take effect even in the plaintiff states. With no viable legal theory remaining, the coalition has now dismissed its own case, seeing the writing on the wall. Win.

Let’s be clear about what happened: The states suing to force Planned Parenthood funding chose to walk away. They did not win a favorable ruling. They did not get a compromise. They dismissed their own case. Every legal argument the abortion lobby put forward – unconstitutional bill of attainder, First Amendment associational rights, Spending Clause violations – was rejected. Seven briefs – every case a win. Zero wins for the abortion lobby.

The ACLJ has been fighting for the sanctity of human life for more than three decades – in the courts, before Congress, and at the highest levels of government around the world. We believe that the right to life is the foundation upon which every other right rests. Today is a landmark day. But the work is not finished – it never is. As long as unborn children are at risk, as long as taxpayer dollars are vulnerable to being redirected to the abortion industry, and as long as pro-life Americans need a champion in the courts and the halls of power, the ACLJ will be there.

As monumental as today’s victory is, Section 71113 of the “Big Beautiful Bill” cuts off Planned Parenthood’s Medicaid funding for one year. The abortion lobby will regroup. The only way to make this permanent is through Congress. The ACLJ will be at the forefront of that fight, just as we have been at every stage of this one.

This is a day pro-life Americans have been working toward for years. After a relentless, multifront legal campaign – seven amicus briefs, a parade of courtroom battles, and an unprecedented coalition of states trying to force taxpayers to fund the nation’s largest abortion provider – Planned Parenthood’s effort to maintain federal funding has collapsed.

From the moment the ACLJ was founded, we have operated on a foundational conviction: that every human life is sacred, that life begins at conception, and that no arm of government – and certainly no federal court – has the authority to compel American taxpayers to fund the destruction of innocent unborn children. That conviction has driven us into courtrooms across this country for decades. It is what drove us to file seven amicus briefs in defunding cases. And it is why today’s victory means so much.

When President Trump signed the “Big Beautiful Bill” on July 4, 2025, cutting off federal Medicaid reimbursements to large abortion providers under Section 71113, the abortion industry immediately launched a coordinated, multifront legal assault to force the money to keep flowing. The ACLJ jumped into the fight on Day One – and never looked back.

Take action with the ACLJ. Add your name to the petition: Stop the Abortion Industry’s War on Babies.

The Massachusetts Case. Planned Parenthood filed suit in the Massachusetts federal district court within days of the bill’s passage. When the district judge granted two sweeping preliminary injunctions – claiming the defunding violated Planned Parenthood’s First Amendment rights – we filed four amicus briefs fighting back, including urging the First Circuit to issue an emergency stay. The First Circuit granted the stay on September 11, cutting off Planned Parenthood’s funding while the case proceeded – and later issued a unanimous landmark ruling upholding Section 71113 in its entirety and vacating both injunctions. Win.

The Maine Case. Maine Family Planning opened a second legal front in Maine federal district court. We filed amicus briefs there at both the district and appellate levels arguing that no court can force Congress to spend money it specifically voted not to spend. The district court denied their injunction entirely, and after the First Circuit’s decisive ruling in the Planned Parenthood case, Maine Family Planning abandoned its appeal altogether and stipulated to dismissal. Win.

The California Coalition Case. Even as those cases were resolved, California organized a coalition of 22 states to file their own lawsuit – California et al. v. HHS – seeking to reimpose Planned Parenthood funding across their jurisdictions. We filed our seventh amicus brief there, and the First Circuit handed California a decisive defeat, granting a stay that allowed Section 71113 to take effect even in the plaintiff states. With no viable legal theory remaining, the coalition has now dismissed its own case, seeing the writing on the wall. Win.

Let’s be clear about what happened: The states suing to force Planned Parenthood funding chose to walk away. They did not win a favorable ruling. They did not get a compromise. They dismissed their own case. Every legal argument the abortion lobby put forward – unconstitutional bill of attainder, First Amendment associational rights, Spending Clause violations – was rejected. Seven briefs – every case a win. Zero wins for the abortion lobby.

The ACLJ has been fighting for the sanctity of human life for more than three decades – in the courts, before Congress, and at the highest levels of government around the world. We believe that the right to life is the foundation upon which every other right rests. Today is a landmark day. But the work is not finished – it never is. As long as unborn children are at risk, as long as taxpayer dollars are vulnerable to being redirected to the abortion industry, and as long as pro-life Americans need a champion in the courts and the halls of power, the ACLJ will be there.

As monumental as today’s victory is, Section 71113 of the “Big Beautiful Bill” cuts off Planned Parenthood’s Medicaid funding for one year. The abortion lobby will regroup. The only way to make this permanent is through Congress. The ACLJ will be at the forefront of that fight, just as we have been at every stage of this one.