“There is reliable information indicating a pattern of illegal billing practices by Planned Parenthood affiliates, including you, across the state”, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission wrote in a letter to the organization.
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Planned Parenthood has filed similar lawsuits in Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama and Utah, and so far it has managed to temporarily block the states’ efforts to deny Medicaid patients services at Planned Parenthood affiliates.
“Planned Parenthood is taking Texas to court on behalf of the 13,500 patients who come to us for care through Medicaid”, Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said Monday on her Twitter account.
Planned Parenthood and 10 individual patients filed a lawsuit Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas to halt the government’s plan, saying it’s a violation of federal statute and the 14th Amendment that guarantees equal protection. It would also end the allocation of federal dollars to Planned Parenthood through Medicaid, the joint state-federal insurer of last resort that is administered by Texas.
Ten patients joined Planned Parenthood in the lawsuit, according to the organization.
Texas moved to strip Medicaid funding after accusing Planned Parenthood of scheduling abortions in a way that would best procure fetal tissue for medical research.
Abbott said in a statement at the time that Texas would not allow “the gruesome harvesting of baby body parts by Planned Parenthood”, and that ending Medicaid funding for the organization “is another step in providing greater access to safe health care for women while protecting our most vulnerable – the unborn”. I Vote Planned Parenthood Action in Nevada will encourage Planned Parenthood advocates and use that strength to influence the ballot box.
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“This just really proves that Planned Parenthood is not about ethics and morality”, said anti-abortion protester Nance Shaw. He feels there are plenty of other options for women seeking the same services Planned Parenthood provides. Planned Parenthood of the Heartland and Planned Parenthood of Central Oklahoma are now reviewing the results of the audits and both agencies have every intention of responding through the appropriate channels once we have. Meanwhile, the Obama administration argued Texas had violated federal law by limiting where poor women could seek health care.
