A federal judge has issued a temporary ruling that Kansas can’t block government funding from two Planned Parenthood clinics in the state.
Kansas had planned to cut off Medicaid funds on Thursday from Planned Parenthood centers. Those dollars were used for health services such as cancer screenings, but not for abortions under a federal prohibition against using taxpayer dollars for the controversial procedure.
U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson wrote that Planned Parenthood is a qualified Medicaid provider and that patients have “the explicit right to seek family planning services from the qualified provider of their choice.”
The lawsuit was filed by Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri and the organization’s St. Louis affiliate after Gov. Sam Brownback directed the state health department to cut off its Medicaid funding. Brownback had vowed in January to ensure the women’s health and abortion provider doesn’t continue receiving taxpayer dollars.
A spokeswoman for Brownback said the governor would review the preliminary ruling and move forward with litigation. Planned Parenthood called the effort a “fool’s errand.”
“We promised to fight Gov. Brownback’s fool’s errand in his attempt to cut funding to Planned Parenthood, and today marks one more step forward in defending access for patients,” Laura McQuade, the affiliate’s president, said in a written statement.
Several other states have attempted over the past year to block Planned Parenthood centers from receiving Medicaid and family planning funds, but they mostly have been blocked by the courts.
