Planned Parenthood is suing Alabama for trying to block Medicaid funding from its two clinics in the state, the second lawsuit the women’s health and abortion provider has announced this week.
Earlier this month, Gov. Robert Bentley told Planned Parenthood he was terminating its state Medicaid contract in the wake of undercover videos showing how some Planned Parenthood clinics in other states provide aborted fetal tissues for medical research.
Planned Parenthood, with the American Civil Liberties Union, filed a complaint in a federal district court Friday, saying Bentley can’t legally block Medicaid dollars from its clinics. The group’s affiliate in that state, Planned Parenthood Southeast, says it also will ask the court next week for an injunction to keep the funds flowing while the case moves through the courts.
“Unfortunately, we find ourselves in court once again with state officials who are hell-bent on ending a woman’s ability to make her own deeply personal and private healthcare decisions,” said Planned Parenthood Southeast President Staci Fox. “Only this time, instead of going after safe and legal abortion as he has each of the past four years, now Governor Bentley is trying to dictate where a woman can go for contraception and other preventive care if she’s enrolled in Medicaid.”
Planned Parenthood says its Alabama clinics, in Birmingham and Mobile, don’t participate in fetal tissue donations. But many Republican-led states including Alabama have seized the opportunity to try to block Medicaid funds from the group, saying the undercover videos raise questions about whether some clinics are breaking the law.
Planned Parenthood also announced a lawsuit against Louisiana earlier this week. The group may have legal precedent on its side, as two federal appeals courts in the past have ruled that states cannot withhold Medicaid dollars from qualified health providers, which includes Planned Parenthood clinics.
“The federal government and several courts have made clear that a state cannot kick Planned Parenthood out of its Medicaid program simply because Planned Parenthood provides abortion,” said Susan Watson, executive director of the ACLU of Alabama, which is representing Planned Parenthood Southeast in the suit.
Planned Parenthood Southeast said it serves 22,000 patients in Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi, arguing that its ability to provide services would be reduced were it to lose Medicaid dollars. But Republicans have argued that federally supported community health centers could step in to provide the services instead.
