Judge orders Alabama to restore Planned Parenthood funding

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A federal judge on Wednesday ordered Alabama to restore Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood, money the state tried to cut off in the wake of undercover videos shot by abortion opponents.

U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson issued an order that temporarily bars Alabama from cutting off Medicaid contracts with the group’s clinics in Alabama. Planned Parenthood Southeast and a Medicaid recipient filed suit in August, days after Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley announced he was ending the Medicaid agreements with the two clinics.

“Today’s ruling is a victory for the women who rely on Planned Parenthood for quality, compassionate affordable health care,” said Staci Fox, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Southeast. “It’s outrageous that Governor Bentley is trying to take care away from women and families in our communities who need it the most.”

In his 66-page opinion, Thompson said Alabama did not identify a legal reason to cut off funding to Planned Parenthood and that the state’s action likely violated a free-choice-of-provider provision of the federal Medicaid Act that limits a state’s ability to bar family planning providers for reasons unrelated to quality of care.

A Medicaid recipient, who received her birth control injection at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Alabama, joined the organization in filing the lawsuit. The ruling is the latest victory for Planned Parenthood in battles over funding.

Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas and Utah have all moved to block Medicaid funds to Planned Parenthood, triggering a series of court fights that have so far largely gone Planned Parenthood’s way. Republican governors cited secretly recorded videos, shot by abortion opponents, which showed Planned Parenthood workers coolly discussing fetal tissue and fees for donating the tissue to researchers.

Thompson noted Alabama’s termination letter to Planned Parenthood did not give a reason for ending the provider agreement that the organization could appeal through administrative channels.

Bentley cited the videos in statements he gave about his decision saying the organization’s “deplorable practices” had been exposed. Thompson, in his opinion, said the videos did not depict, or involve, the Alabama clinics.

Planned Parenthood said the videos were heavily edited to falsely imply some clinics were selling the tissue for profit. The organization, in an effort to squelch the controversy, announced this month it would no longer accept reimbursement for the cost of providing the tissue to researchers.