Judge temporarily blocks Texas from cutting off Planned Parenthood's Medicaid funding

Jardine Malado Saturday, January 21, 2017

Planned Parenthood in Houston, Texas | Wikimedia Commons/Hourick

A federal judge has issued a temporary injunction to stop the state of Texas from cutting off Planned Parenthood from the state's Medicaid program.

The injunction, which was issued by U.S. District Court Judge Sam Sparks on Thursday, would delay the ouster of Planned Parenthood from the Medicaid program until Feb. 21, according to the Texas Tribune.

Last December, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission issued a notice to Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast (PPGC), stating that it would stop funding the abortion through the Medicaid program due to misconduct and violations of acceptable medical standards.

Planned Parenthood issued a pre-emptive lawsuit a year ago to block the state's efforts, but the lawsuit remained dormant until the commission issued the notice.

In court, the state attorneys relied on the videos released by Center for Medical Progress (CMP), in which Planned Parenthood employees appeared to admit changing abortion procedures in order to procure fetal tissue for researchers. Planned Parenthood has claimed that the videos were heavily edited and misleading.

Sparks asked all those involved to review the video footage and present their findings to him on Jan. 30. "I don't know if I'll be able to give an opinion [without further review of the video]," he said.

Assistant Attorney General Andrew Stephens stated that removing Planned Parenthood from Medicaid would mean that it would not be able to provide its services, adding that the case was to remove the organization from the program, not to revoke its license to practice.

Jennifer Sandman, Planned Parenthood's deputy director of litigation, said that Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas and Planned Parenthood of South Texas cannot be excluded from Medicaid even if there were enough evidence to remove PPGC from the program.

"They're wholly different Planned Parenthood organizations. A provider cannot be excluded from Medicaid just by [having the name Planned Parenthood]. There's no ownership or controlled relationship," she said.

According to the state's Health and Human Services Commission, Planned Parenthood receives about $4.2 million in Medicaid funding. The funds are disbursed to 34 centers, which Planned Parenthood claims to have 120,000 clients, 11,000 of whom are on Medicaid.