Trump can block Medicaid funds to ‘defund’ Planned Parenthood, court rules

Reproductive rights group condemns ruling as backdoor abortion ban' and says 200 US clinics may face closure

The Trump administration can move forward with its plan to defund" Planned Parenthood by blocking it from receiving reimbursements from Medicaid, the US government's insurance program for low-income people, a federal appeals court ruled late Thursday.

The ruling from the first US circuit court of appeals lifts a lower court's preliminary injunction, which had stopped the Trump administration from enacting a provision of its tax and spending bill that axed Planned Parenthood's ability to participate in Medicaid for one year.