The Justice Department filed a motion Friday seeking to dissolve a temporary restraining order that is blocking the Trump administration from defunding Planned Parenthood through the newly signed One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
The move is the latest salvo in a legal battle that began on Tuesday when Massachusetts Judge Indira Talwani granted Planned Parenthood's request to temporarily stay the legislation's provision that defunds abortion providers.
Department of Justice chief of staff Chad Mizelle announced the administration's action Friday morning in a post on X, describing the temporary restraining order as "lawless."
"Enjoining an Act of Congress signed by the President of the United States is among the most serious and consequential exercises of the judicial power," Mizelle wrote, quoting from the motion. "It must be exercised with caution and restraint, as the separation of powers counsels against one branch of government effectively seizing for itself the powers of the other two branches.
"Yet here, without even awaiting a response from the Government, the Court exercised that power through an extraordinary, highly unusual TRO, preventing the enforcement of duly enacted legislation approved by Congress and signed by the President barely a week ago. The Court should dissolve that order immediately."
The Hyde Amendment prohibits federal funding from being used to directly cover abortions, but anti-abortion activists say that making federal dollars available to health centers that provide abortion services indirectly subsidizes the procedure.
Planned Parenthood's 2023-2024 fiscal report shows that more than $792 million (about 44% of its annual operating budget) came from government grants and reimbursements, including Medicaid.
House Republicans had voted to defund Planned Parenthood for 10 years in their version of the budget reconciliation bill, but Senate language changes to the provision dialed the funding freeze back to just one year.
In its lawsuit requesting the temporary injunction, Planned Parenthood argued that the new law violates the right to free association and equal protection, under the Constitution's First Amendment and Fifth Amendment, respectively.
Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, and Planned Parenthood Association of Utah released a joint statement after the government's motion to dissolve the temporary restraining order, saying they are "committed to fighting this to the very end."
"This move is straight out of the Trump Administration's playbook, and so it comes as no surprise," the statement read. "Nothing in this filing even addresses or disputes the harm to patients — it's not hypothetical. We know what will happen if this provision is allowed to take effect again: People in need of basic care will be turned away, cancers will go undetected, and STIs will go untreated — all while our fragile public health system continues to crumble. President Trump and his allies in Congress simply don't care."
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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