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A judge said he would issue a decision by the end of the week on a Maine lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s administration over new rules blocking Medicaid funding for abortion providers.
U.S. District Court judge Lance Walker heard arguments on Thursday in the case revolving around part of the Republican president’s “Big Beautiful Bill” that targets Planned Parenthood. The plaintiff, Maine Family Planning, is the only group in the country to come forward to say the rules would also apply to it.
Federal money already cannot be used to provide most abortions. So the case revolves around money provided for other family planning services including contraception and primary care. Anti-abortion advocates have long argued that federal money going to these groups — even if it is for other services — effectively subsidizes abortion.
Walker, who was appointed in 2018, is now the chief judge of the U.S. District Court in Maine. Cases are randomly assigned to judges. During Trump’s first term in 2019, he delivered a notable decision in this policy area when he refused to block the president’s so-called gag rule that placed restrictions on abortion providers.
That rule was short-lived because former President Joe Biden, a Democrat, rescinded it when he took office in 2021, but it is back under Trump. The Maine Family Planning case has some real stakes because the health care provider plays a unique role in the new law that mostly targets Planned Parenthood.
Walker’s more recent history includes as well as a colorful ruling earlier this year that paused Maine’s 72-hour waiting period on gun purchases and enthralled the gun-rights grassroots. But he doesn’t have a pristine record with Republicans, having twice upheld the state’s ranked-choice voting law after conservative challenges.
This lawsuit will not necessarily be the last word on this topic. Maine is part of a coalition of Democratic-led states that is suing the Trump administration over the same rule. Any ruling that Walker makes could be appealed. But his history is one of the things making this case interesting.
