If the nonprofit was forced to scale back or close clinics, it would create dangerous gaps in access, according to Daniel Barlow, executive director of the People’s Health and Wellness Clinic in Barre that provides free health care to uninsured and underinsured adults in Central Vermont.

“For many patients on Medicaid, Planned Parenthood is not just a provider of choice, it’s often the only provider available that offers the full range of reproductive healthcare services in a welcoming and inclusive environment,” Barlow wrote in an email. “Efforts to defund or discredit Planned Parenthood don’t just target an organization — they threaten the health, dignity, and autonomy of our communities.”

More than 70 million people rely on Medicaid, the federal government’s insurance program for low-income people, according to federal enrollment data.

Medicaid insures about 200,000 people in Vermont and costs approximately $2.4 billion, of which about 62% is federally funded, according to a press release from Attorney General Charity Clark’s office announcing the lawsuit. Vermont Medicaid covers reproductive health and preventative services and Planned Parenthood “plays a critical role in delivering that care,” the release states.

“In a rural state like ours — where medical providers are few and far between — the loss of Medicaid reimbursements for Planned Parenthood will leave Vermonters without access to basic care,” Clark stated in the release.

The lawsuit argues the provision is “impermissibly ambiguous,” unlawful and would lead to “widespread disruptions in preventative care and increase health care costs.”

The continued effort to defund Planned Parenthood is “a direct attack on the health care access of millions of low-income Americans, disproportionally harming women, LGBTQ+ individuals, and communities of color,” the release stated.

Planned Parenthood remains “one of the only affirming places” where young people in Vermont can access affordable and gender-affirming health care, Dana Kaplan, executive director of Outright Vermont, wrote in an email Tuesday. 

“Bodily autonomy is at the heart of both reproductive rights and gender-affirming care, and in this political climate where both are under attack, losing Planned Parenthood would create devastating gaps for youth—especially those on Medicaid,” he wrote.

While the lawsuits and this week’s court decision are good news for the organization, the fight is far from over, said Jessica Barquist, spokesperson for Planned Parenthood of Northern New England and Planned Parenthood Vermont Action Fund, in the release.

The attack is politically motivated, she said, and the nonprofit remains committed to providing care to anyone who seeks it. 

“During these turbulent times, we know our Medicaid insured patients won’t be able to access care elsewhere, which is why our commitment to see them is so critical,” she said in the release.