Texas has won another round in its court battle to defund Planned Parenthood, this time in the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
When The Lone Star State decided to only give Medicaid funds for women's health services to organizations that do not provide abortions, nine Planned Parenthood facilities filed suit and won an initial injunction to restore funding. But Elizabeth Graham of Texas Right to Life tells OneNewsNow the Fifth Circuit has lifted that injunction.
"What that means is that while the state is renewing and restructuring the Women's Health Program, Planned Parenthood and abortion providers no longer are eligible for participation in that program," Graham explains.
However, the battle is not over. The Fifth Circuit will hold another hearing in October, this time on Planned Parenthood's claim that its elimination violates the abortion provider's free speech rights. But the pro-lifer is positive about the outcome.
"The signals from the Fifth Circuit and their decision affirms that the state can write rules for programs that the state funds," she notes. "So, we have high hopes that the whole Fifth Circuit will carry that ruling forward to the constitutionality of the whole program."
When Texas decided not to include Planned Parenthood as part of the Women's Health Program, the Obama administration threatened to withdraw all Medicaid funds from the state (see earlier story). Gov. Rick Perry (R) responded by telling Washington his state would fund Medicaid on its own.