Planned Parenthood Sues Alabama Over Termination Of Medicaid Funds
Planned Parenthood is suing the state of Alabama over Governor Robert Bentley’s effort to terminate the Medicaid funds to their Alabama clinics.
On August 6, Bentley ended the Medicaid contracts with Planned Parenthood after viewing a set of videos by the anti-abortion group The Center for Medical Progress showing members of Planned Parenthood’s staff discussing the sale of fetuses and fetal body parts. During his decision, he called the videos “deplorable.”
“The deplorable practices at Planned Parenthood have been exposed to Americans, and I have decided to stop any association with the organization in Alabama,” Bentley said.
Now, Planned Parenthood Southeast has filed a suit against Bentley suggesting his “decision to to cancel Medicaid contracts with the organization violated federal law,” according to the Montgomery Advertiser.
The organizations CEO Staci Fox said that the Alabama officials were “hell-bent on ending a woman’s ability to make her own deeply personal and private health decisions.”
The House is moving toward a vote to defund Planned Parenthood: http://t.co/lM7Y2Pq2YO pic.twitter.com/n7jKT4u0oO
— The Hill (@thehill) August 29, 2015
“Governor Bentley is trying to dictate where a woman can go for contraception and other preventive care if she’s enrolled in Medicaid,” the Fox’s statement said. “Meanwhile, Alabama is dealing with some of the nation’s worst health outcomes, and restricting access to providers will do nothing to help the urgent problems we face.”
Last week, Gov. Bentley issued a statement about his decision, saying that “I respect human life and do not want Alabama to be associated with an organization that does not.”
Undercover Planned Parenthood videos were altered, analysis finds http://t.co/LPHRx4m9vC pic.twitter.com/dm3A4qha2t
— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 28, 2015
According to Live Action News, PP is also suing the state of Louisiana’s Gov. Bobby Jindal for cutting their Medicaid funding following the release of the videos, which the group says contains “substantive omissions,” and cannot “[be held] up as evidence in a court of law.” PP says they do not sell fetal tissue, and the program they are talking about is their donation program, which Alabama does not participate in. The PP is also claiming that the videos were edited to be misleading to viewers.
Planned Parenthood is planning on asking the judge next week for a preliminary injunction to block the action by Bentley.
“Defendant’s actions were taken without regard to the quality of the medical care provided by PPSE to Medicaid patients, and in direct retaliation for PPSE’s provision of abortion services and its affiliation with Planned Parenthood,” the lawsuit said.
Do you agree with Gov. Bentley’s decision to terminate funding for Planned Parenthood in Alabama? Leave your comments below.
[Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images]
