CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The Trump administration can continue to withhold Medicaid funding from Planned Parenthood and other health centers that provide abortions as a coalition of mostly Democratic states challenges the cuts, a federal appeals court ruled.
The decision on Tuesday is one of multiple lawsuits filed after President Donald Trump signed tax breaks and spending cuts legislation in July that eliminated Medicaid reimbursement for Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers that received more than $800,000 in 2023. The lawsuits include two filed in Massachusetts by 21 states and the District of Columbia and Planned Parenthood itself, and a third filed in Maine by a network of medical clinics there.
In the Massachusetts cases, a federal judge issued separate preliminary injunctions siding with Planned Parenthood in July and the coalition of states in early December. But an appeals court overturned the first order on Dec. 12 and put the second on hold Tuesday.
“Although we are disappointed in the court’s decision, we remain committed to holding the federal administration accountable and ensuring vulnerable Californians can access the health care they need,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the Maine lawsuit has been dismissed at the request of the clinics that challenged the cuts.
Maine Family Planning, which operates 18 clinics in many of the poor and rural areas of the state, shut down its primary care operations in October due to the loss of funding.
In August, a federal judge ruled against restoring funding as the lawsuit proceeded, and the clinics appealed. But earlier this month, the network notified the court that it was ending the lawsuit.
“As the Trump administration has dismantled the nation’s health care system, we have remained focused on delivering high quality care to our patients, particularly those across rural Maine," CEO George Hill said in a statement Wednesday. “Though our lawsuit will not continue, we are not wavering in our commitment to our patients and to advocating for the health care system that Mainers need and deserve.”
The Center for Reproductive Rights, which represented Maine Family Planning, said Wednesday that clinic leaders have decided to focus their resources on treating patients.
“The Trump administration on the other hand has no regard for patients or how the ‘big beautiful bill’ has made healthcare even harder to access in this country,” the center said in a statement.
Planned Parenthood, which did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday, has said that nearly half its patients rely on Medicaid for health care aside from abortions, which were already not covered by the federal insurance program that serves millions of low-income and disabled Americans. At least eight states have directed state funds to compensate Planned Parenthood for the lost funding, including Connecticut, where Gov. Ned Lamont recently announced $8.5 million for Planned Parenthood of Southern New England.
Tuesday's court decision makes that kind of action even more important, said Connecticut Attorney General William Wong. He called the ruling a “disappointing setback,” but noted the legal process has a long way to go.
“This defunds essential, preventive healthcare, including cancer screenings, birth control, and testing and treatment of sexually transmitted infections,” he said in a statement Wednesday. “We will keep fighting to protect access to essential healthcare and to keep partisan politics out of doctors’ offices.”
Health and Human Services press secretary Emily Hilliard said Wednesday the department doesn’t comment on litigation but added, “We remain committed to protecting the integrity of Medicaid programs to ensure full compliance with the law.”
Associated Press writers David Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, Ed White in Detroit and Julie Carr Smyth in Columbus, Ohio, contributed.
FILE - Vanessa Shields-Haas, a nurse practitioner, walks from the lobby toward the examination rooms at the Maine Family Planning healthcare facility, July 15, 2025, in Thomaston, Maine. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)
Wall Street fell on the final day of trading for 2025, a banner year for markets that was driven by both optimism and uncertainty. The S&P 500 pulled back 0.7% Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.6%, and the Nasdaq composite gave back 0.8%. Trading was very light ahead of the New Year’s Day holiday Thursday, when markets will be closed. The S&P 500 rose more than 16% this year as investors embraced the optimism surrounding artificial intelligence and its potential for boosting profits for companies. Treasury yields rose in the bond market.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
U.S. stocks are slipping in afternoon trading Wednesday as Wall Street closes out a banner year for markets driven by both optimism and uncertainty.
The S&P 500 was down 0.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 100 points, or 0.2%, as of 1:47 p.m. Eastern time. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.1%. The stock indexes are coming off a three-day losing streak.
Trading is expected to be light ahead of the New Year’s Day holiday, when markets will be closed. With just one trading day left before the year ends, most big investors have closed out their positions for the year and trading volume has been very thin.
Even after their mini post-Christmas pullback, the indexes are on pace for strong gains for the year.
The S&P 500, which set 39 record highs in 2025, is up about 17% for the year, it’s third straight double-digit annual gain. The Nasdaq is up 21.1% and the Dow has gained 13.4%.
Wall Street’s 2025 gains came as investors embraced the optimism surrounding artificial intelligence and its potential for boosting profits across almost all sectors. But the market had no shortage of turbulence along the way amid President Donald Trump’s on-again, off-again tariffs on imported goods worldwide and uncertainty over the trajectory of interest rates.
The S&P 500 plunged nearly 5% on April 3, it’s worst day since the 2020 COVID crash. It fell another 6% a day later, after China’s response raised fears of an escalating trade war. Worries also gripped the U.S. Treasury market.
Trump eventually put his tariffs on pause and negotiated agreements with countries to lower his proposed tariff rates on their imports, helping calm investors’ nerves.
Strong profit reports from companies and three cuts to interest rates by the Federal Reserve also helped drive markets higher.
Still, the AI frenzy that drove markets in 2025 did not come without concerns. Chief among them is the worry that artificial intelligence technology may not produce enough profits and productivity to make all the investment worth it. That could keep the pressure on AI stocks like Nvidia and Broadcom, which were responsible for much of the market’s gains this year.
And it’s not just AI stocks that critics say are too pricey. Stocks across the market still look expensive after their prices climbed faster than profits.
On top of concerns that stocks are overvalued, the ongoing impact of the wide-ranging U.S.-led trade war threatens to add more fuel to inflation in the U.S. Despite the Fed cutting rates over concerns about the labor market, inflation remains solidly above the central bank’s 2% target.
Wall Street is betting that the Fed will hold interest rates steady at its next meeting in January.
Traders got an update on the state of the job market Wednesday. The Labor Department reported that fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week with layoffs remaining low despite a weakening labor market.
All of the sectors in the S&P 500 were in the red Wednesday, with technology stocks among the biggest drags on the market. Western Digital fell 2.1% and Micron Technology was down 1.5%.
Treasury yields were mostly higher in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.16% from 4.13% late Tuesday. The yield on the two-year Treasury, which moves more closely with expectations for what the Federal Reserve will do, rose to 3.47% from 3.45%.
Trading in precious metals continued to be volatile as the year winds down. Silver swung back to a big loss, giving back 9.1% after Tuesday's gain of more than 10%. Following Friday's 7.7% jump, silver lost nearly 9% on Monday. It's still up more than 140% this year.
Gold was down 1.2%, but is still up about 64% in 2025.
U.S. benchmark crude slipped 0.7% to $57.55 per barrel. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, fell 0.6% to $60.97 per barrel.
Global stock markets including those in Germany, Japan and South Korea were closed Wednesday for the New Year’s holidays, while trading was mixed in those that remained open.
Hajime Moriyasu, the head coach of Japanese national soccer team, rings the bell during a ceremony to mark the last trading day of the year on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
