Law Stopping Taxpayer Funds for Planned Parenthood Upheld
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has denied Planned Parenthood’s request for a rehearing en banc, thereby upholding the court’s ruling that Texas has the right not to subsidize the life-ending work of abortion-providing organizations such as Planned Parenthood.
This decision comes on the heels of the Seventh Circuit’s ruling
striking down an Indiana provision denying funds to abortion providers
under the federal Medicaid Act. The Seventh Circuit concluded that the
Indiana law, which makes abortion providers ineligible to receive
various forms of state funding, conflicts with the federal Medicaid
Act’s “free choice of provider” provision (42 U.S.C. § 1396a(a)(23)),
which requires states to allow patients to choose their own medical
provider in their Medicaid plans. Although we don’t agree with the
court’s ruling, the good news is that the court reiterated that the
government is not constitutionally required to pay for abortion
services.
The Texas provision prohibits entities that provide or promote
elective abortions, or that are affiliates of entities that do so, from
participating in a Texas Women’s Health program, which expands access to
various services for uninsured women who are not currently covered by
Medicaid. Since the program was originally jointly funded by Texas and
the federal government under a waiver issued by the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services, the federal government refused to renew the
waiver, claiming that the regulations violate the Medicaid Act’s freedom
of choice provision, as in the Indiana case above. In response, Texas
decided to continue the program as a fully state-funded program after
the current plan expires, thus taking them out of the purview of the
Medicaid provision. By denying Planned Parenthood’s request for a
rehearing, the Fifth Circuit has correctly ruled that Texas has every
right to stop indirectly funding abortion services just as it may
decline to do so directly.
We are thrilled with the Fifth Circuit’s decision to deny Planned
Parenthood a rehearing and are committed to continue fighting for the
rights of unborn children and to end government subsidizing of
abortion-providing organizations such as Planned Parenthood.
Tags »
planned parenthood, abortion, Texas, Medicaid
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