Judge says Texas can’t kick Planned Parenthood out of Medicaid

A federal judge ruled Tuesday that Texas can’t cut off Medicaid dollars to Planned Parenthood over secretly recorded videos taken by anti-abortion activists in 2015 that launched Republican efforts across the U.S. to defund the nation’s largest abortion provider.

An injunction issued by U.S. District Sam Sparks of Austin comes after he delayed making decision in January and essentially bought Planned Parenthood an extra month in the state’s Medicaid program.

Sparks ruled Tuesday afternoon that Texas clinics affiliated with Planned Parenthood can continue to care for patients under the state’s Medicaid program, a victory for reproductive rights advocates and a loss for the state's GOP leaders.

Sparks’ unsparing opinion excoriated Texas for not providing “any evidence” of Planned Parenthood wrongdoing and stalling on the ouster for nearly a year.

“A secretly recorded video, fake names, a grand jury indictment, congressional investigations — these are the building blocks of a best-selling novel rather than a case concerning the interplay of federal and state authority through the Medicaid program,” Sparks wrote. “Yet, rather than a villain plotting to take over the world, the subject of this case is the State of Texas’s efforts to expel a group of health care providers from a social health care program for families and individuals with limited resources.”

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton blasted the ruling, saying the “decision is disappointing and flies in the face of basic human decency. The raw, unedited footage from undercover videos exposed a brazen willingness by Planned Parenthood officials to traffic in fetal body parts, as well as manipulate the timing and method of an abortion.”

Added Paxton: “No taxpayer in Texas should have to subsidize this repugnant and illegal conduct. We should never lose sight of the fact that, as long as abortion is legal in the United States, the potential for these types of horrors will continue.”

But Rep. Chris Turner, D-Arlington and chair of the Texas House Democratic Caucus, hailed Sparks’ ruling, calling it “a victory for thousands of Texas families who would have been denied vital health care services had Governor Abbott’s misguided policy gone forward.”

Cecile Richards, daughter of late Texas Gov. Ann Richards and president of the national Planned Parenthood Action Fund, also praised Sparks, calling his ruling a victory “for all Texans. Thanks to this decision, Planned Parenthood patients can continue to get the care they need. We will never back down and we will never stop fighting for our patients.”

Texas is now at least the sixth state where federal courts have kept Planned Parenthood eligible for Medicaid reimbursements for non-abortion services, although a bigger question remains over whether President Donald Trump will federally defund the organization.

Sparks’ decision preserves what Planned Parenthood says are cancer screenings, birth control access and other health services for nearly 11,000 low-income women. Texas originally intended to boot Planned Parenthood in January but Sparks told the state to wait pending his ruling.

Arkansas, Alabama, Kansas, Mississippi and Louisiana have also had similar efforts blocked.

Like in those states, Texas health officials accused Planned Parenthood officials of making misrepresentation to investigators following the release of secretly recorded and heavily edited videos by an anti-abortion group last year. Investigations by 13 states into those videos have concluded without criminal charges, and Planned Parenthood officials have denied any wrongdoing.

A Houston grand jury indicted two activists behind the videos over how they covertly gained access inside a Planned Parenthood clinic, but a judge later dismissed the charges.

Planned Parenthood serves only a fraction of the 4.3 million people enrolled in Medicaid in Texas.

Trump action expected

Anti-abortion activists emboldened by a new Trump administration are looking for the federal government to cut off all federal funding to Planned Parenthood. That would cut nearly $400 million in Medicaid money to the group and result in roughly 400,000 women losing access to care, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

In one of his first acts as president, Trump last month banned U.S. funding to international groups that perform abortions or even provide information about abortions.

Vice President Mike Pence strongly opposes abortion, citing his Catholic beliefs, and the newly confirmed health secretary, Tom Price, has supported cutting off taxpayer money to Planned Parenthood.

Staff writer John Gravois contributed to this report, which contains material from The Texas Tribune.

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This story was originally published February 21, 2017 at 6:06 PM with the headline "Judge says Texas can’t kick Planned Parenthood out of Medicaid."