Authorities in Texas who falsely claimed that Planned Parenthood sells fetal body parts are prohibited from withholding federal Medicaid funds from Planned Parenthood, a federal judge ruled today. This is a significant legal victory for Planned Parenthood, which is under renewed conservative attack under President Donald Trump.
CNN reports that Judge Sam Sparks issued an injunction Tuesday in favor of Planned Parenthood, ruling that the health care provider’s lawyers had successfully proven that it would probably win in its lawsuit against Texas officials in the state’s Heath and Human Services Department.
Snip:
In December, Texas cut off Medicaid funds to some Planned Parenthood groups. Sparks presided over a three-day hearing in mid-January and issued his ruling Tuesday.
The state’s decision, by the department’s Inspector General Stuart Bowen Jr., came “without any evidence indicating an actual program violation warranting termination,” Sparks wrote in his 42-page ruling.
Read the complete ruling here.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said he would appeal the ruling. “Today’s decision is disappointing and flies in the face of basic human decency,” he lied.
“No taxpayer in Texas should have to subsidize this repugnant and illegal conduct,” Paxton added, citing an internet video secretly recorded by anti-abortion wackos as evidence that Planned Parenthood was selling fetal tissue, which they do not.
Planned Parenthood does, however, provide screening for breast cancer, ovarian cancer, uterine cancer, and other forms of cancer that affect women like me. I have been helped by Planned Parenthood since I was a teen, and had no other access to health care. I’m a breast cancer survivor, too, and I’ve had multiple gynecological surgeries related to cancer treatment.
I have never had an abortion.
Planned Parenthood saves the lives of adult women like me.
What politicians like Donald Trump and Paul Ryan don’t tell you is the truth. Their war isn’t to save unborn life, it’s to take away our right to our own.
This wasn’t the only victory for Planned Parenthood today. Virginia, too.
Virginia governor vetoes bill defunding Planned Parenthood https://t.co/9NpdKyhCtL pic.twitter.com/B2i7zAuFHD
— Reuters Science News (@ReutersScience) February 22, 2017
Planned Parenthood Action Fund President Cecile Richards speaks at an event to publicly endorse U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in Hooksett, New Hampshire, January 10, 2016. REUTERS