It’s been almost three months since the Susan G. Komen Foundation initially announced it would stop funding Planned Parenthood, a decision officials attributed to its new senior vice president who had run for governor championing a right-to-life platform, as Bethany Mandel writes.
The decision was reversed several days later, but that didn’t stop Texas from trying to shut down Planned Parenthood anyway by cutting off state funds, according to the AP’s Chris Tomlinson.
But today a federal judge stopped Texas from doing just that, Tomlinson writes.
Ruling for the women’s health organization, U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel in Austin said “there is sufficient evidence that a law banning Planned Parenthood from the program is unconstitutional,” Mandel reports. And the judge slapped an injunction against enforcing it until he can hear full arguments.
Governor Rick Perry last year approved a state budget that slashed more than 75 percent of the funding for basic women’s health care services, including breast and cervical cancer screenings. Texas took those millions of dollars and shifted care to facilities that do not provide abortions.
As Mandel reveals, the Republican-controlled legislature had last year also voted to prevent state agencies from “providing funds to an organization affiliated with abortion providers,” as of Sept. 1. But Planned Parenthood did not take this lying down. Eight clinics that do not provide abortions sued the state, according to Mandel. The clinics said in their lawsuit that the law “unconstitutionally restricts their freedom of speech and association to qualify to take part in state health programs,” Mandel writes.
The judge agreed, accepting Planned Parenthood's argument that banning the organization from the state-funded Women’s Health Program would leave women without access to basic health services and check-ups, according to Mandel’s story.
Last week, Arizona also voted to cut off access to taxpayer money for Planned Parenthood.
"The court is particularly influenced by the potential for immediate loss of access to necessary medical services by several thousand Texas women," Mandel quotes Yeakel in his ruling. "The record before the court at this juncture reflects uncertainty as to the continued viability of the Texas Women's Health Program."
It was well-known that if the state were forced to include Planned Parenthood, they would most likely shut down the program that offers basic health care and contraception to 130,000 poor women, not just abortions, and Yeakel said yes, that was a risk, according to Mandel.
The federal government had already cut off funding to Texas because of the state requirement, according to Mandel’s story, noting that the money was “eliminated because federal officials said the rule violates federal law by restricting women from choosing the qualified medical provider of their choice.”
But it’s not over yet. Yeakel's decision is temporary, Mandel reports. A final decision will only come after a full trial, that either way, most likely, will be appealed.
Edited by
Jamie Epstein
