Planned Parenthood’s Medicaid money cut off
Texas lobbed another salvo in the ongoing battle to restrict or close abortion clinics in the state, announcing Monday it was cutting off Medicaid money to Planned Parenthood clinics in the wake of the controversial video of group officials discussing fetal tissue.
The move is the latest in a series of budget cuts and legislative restrictions against the women’s clinics and could lead to a legal fight like the one unfolding in neighboring Louisiana.
In a letter to Planned Parenthood affiliates statewide, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission’s Office of Inspector General told the affiliates their enrollment in the joint state-federal Medicaid program was in the process of being terminated because they were potentially “liable, directly or by affiliation, for a series of serious Medicaid program violations.”
Planned Parenthood affiliates in Texas receive a total of about $3 million to $4 million a year in Medicaid reimbursements through the state, according to commission figures.
“The State has determined that you and your Planned Parenthood affiliates are no longer capable of performing medical services in a professionally competent, safe, legal and ethical manner,” the letter said.
The step comes after undercover videos were released by the anti-abortion group Center for Medical Progress, which says the videos show that Planned Parenthood illegally sold fetal tissue for profit. Planned Parenthood denies the allegation and says the videos were misleading.
The state’s letter was directed at Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, which operates the Houston clinic where some of the videos were taken. But a spokesman for the Health & Human Services Commission said the Medicaid cuts are aimed at all Planned Parenthood clinics in Texas. The group has 30 days to challenge the termination.
Gov. Greg Abbott, meanwhile, applauded the move.
“Texas has stepped forward and shown its unyielding commitment to both protecting life and providing women’s health services,” he said in a statement.