Texas Planned Parenthood Funding Restored By Appeals Court

It's been a bumpy week for Planned Parenthood clinics in Texas. First a U.S. district judge temporarily stopped a new law that would have cut Planned Parenthood out of the state Women's Health Program. Then a panel of judges smacked down that ruling. And now, the same appeals court has restored state funding to the family planning provider until its case can be heard later this month.

On Thursday, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott and his team of state lawyers asked a federal appeals court to block U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel's Monday decision that required the state to continue funding Planned Parenthood. In his request for an emergency stay, Abbott analogized Planned Parenthood to a terrorist organization and said the state would be forced to drop the entire Women's Health Program if it was asked to continue funding an organization that performs abortions.

While federal appeals Judge Jerry E. Smith initially complied with that request, Smith and two other judges changed their minds on Friday and denied the state's request on the grounds that the attorney general failed to show the state would suffer immediate, irreparable harm from giving Medicaid money to Planned Parenthood.

Abbott's office could not immediately be reached for comment.

None of the eight Planned Parenthoods that participate in the Texas Women's Health Program offer abortions, and Planned Parenthood accounts 40 percent of the program's services to low-income women across the state. If the court sides with Planned Parenthood in its upcoming case against the state, lawmakers have said they will likely shut down the whole Women's Health Program, which serves at least 130,000 women a year.

Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, tied the case to the presidential election.

"This case isn't about Planned Parenthood — it's about the women who rely on Planned Parenthood for cancer screenings, birth control, and well-woman exams," Richards said in a statement on Friday. "Governor Perry has already thrown 160,000 women off of health care for partisan political reasons -- now there will be more to come. Mitt Romney would supersize what's happening in Texas and try to block women's access to lifesaving health care nationwide."

Comments

[dbrett480]

04:23 PM on 05/16/2012

Since none of the locations actually perform abortions, why does this debate even exist?

[bushner3]

05:45 PM on 05/07/2012

The BIG LIE; ‘If you tell a lie big enough, long enough, people will eventually believe it to be the truth.’

Adolf Hitler outlined in his book, “Mein Kampf,” how to use the “Big Lie” to manipulate the masses. His Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, refined the art of twisting the truth and creating fictions to feed the public and blame others for their troubles. Barack Hussein Obama and David Axelrod have been waging a very successful propaganda campaign to bring about the fundamental transformation of the United States utilizing the same techniques.

[K August]

08:42 PM on 05/07/2012

The only lies I see are coming from the right.......they ran on Jobs in the primaries and instead they went wild creating over 1,500 pieces of "social" legislation based on the religious beliefs of a minority.

Shoving religion into laws is very dangerous!
How would you feel if some other religion demanded equal treatment and wanted to ban the bible, legalize stoning for adultery?

Republicans have NO respect for what our Founding Fathers wanted for our country.
They claim to love the Constitution but seem to have forgotten about the FIRST amendment!

[Jim Bright]

01:04 PM on 03/14/2013

This has nothing to do with religion. It doesn't take a religious belief to recognize an act of murder. But like Hitler attempted to justify his mass murdering ways, all you Liberal pro-abortionists hide behind such cute phrases as "womens' health" and "choice". I applaud Texas and hope they succeed in putting Planned Murderhood down for good.

[Chigirl60]

03:29 PM on 05/07/2012

Apparently Abbott doesn't have anything else to do but spend Texas' money to fight against affordable women's health care. Texans should be happy their tax dollars are being flushed away by this man.

[bushner3]

05:31 PM on 05/07/2012

Abbott has collected more than $21 billion in child support for Texas children since being elected to Attorney General. Actual fact. Imagine that....

[bookishly]

04:39 AM on 05/07/2012

So the people who condone bombing clinics and assassinating doctors who perform abortions thinks Planned Parenthood is a terrorist organization.

[Martha Stuart]

11:35 PM on 05/06/2012

Interesting that Attorney General Abbot likens Planned Parenthood to a "terrorist organization" when he and his Republican cohorts are acting like the Taliban. I must have dozed off when the Republicans formed this hatred for women. For a while there, we seemed to be getting better at working together. What did we do to them to make them try so hard to kill us off?

[K August]

11:57 PM on 05/06/2012

What did we do.......we voted for Obama.

[robyxf]

10:00 PM on 05/06/2012

obama has got everybody fighting every body,
war on woman, war on the military, war on black people, war on gays, war on the rich people, war on the poor people, war on the Mexicans, war on the collage students, war, war, war, war, that's all that comes out of obama mouth.

[Lady1genius]

12:26 PM on 05/07/2012

Ooops. I think all this legislation is coming from republicans, not from the president. It's only "class warfare" when we fight back, right?

[robyxf]

01:40 PM on 05/07/2012

as one of obama zombias you will never see the light., right now you think he is your water, bread, milk, honey, and you are goung to live in obamas promise land forever.

[K August]

08:30 PM on 05/07/2012

"Conservative state lawmakers set a record in 2011 for the highest number of anti-abortion and anti-family planning provisions enacted in a single year. Legislators introduced more than 1,100 provisions last year that chip away at women's reproductive rights

In the first three months of 2012, legislators in 45 of the 46 legislatures that have convened this year introduced 944 provisions related to reproductive health and rights. Half of these provisions would restrict abortion access."

Please explain to us HOW Obama "forced" the Republicans to do all of the above?
That is from Guttmacher Institute.......they track the legislation.

[Minerva Schwartz]

10:21 AM on 05/06/2012

When did Planned Parenthood have a *right* to be publicly funded?

[Sabrae]

12:27 PM on 05/06/2012

Any non-profit serving the poor, sick and elderly receive funding. If they had to rely on donations alone, they would only operate on a day to day basis.

[K August]

04:17 PM on 05/06/2012

When Republicans set it up that way decades ago!

[robyxf]

10:03 PM on 05/06/2012

tell us in your own words what the republicans set up,

[primary116]

07:38 AM on 05/06/2012

A victory for women and those who love them, against all GOP efforts to impose restrictions on access to health care.

[rfstevens]

03:55 PM on 05/06/2012

Temporary reprieve I think is more like it. My guess is that they reversed course only when the legal consequences in higher appeals were better considered. Their quick initial decision was more indicative of their bias and what the final result will be.

[Lady1genius]

08:03 PM on 05/06/2012

Read the order. It's very clear that their "quick initial decision" was based on fallacious information contained in the request of stay files by the state. One a hearing on the information contained in the request uncovered the lies being told by Texas, the stay was quickly vacated.

[robyxf]

10:04 PM on 05/06/2012

bs

[K August]

10:20 PM on 05/06/2012

"None of the eight Planned Parenthoods that participate in the Texas Women's Health Program offer abortions, and Planned Parenthood accounts 40 percent of the program's services to low-income women across the state."

It says NONE......so how does shutting off funding help anyone?

[Kelly Carroll]

06:51 AM on 05/06/2012

When pp stops performing abortions, it will get two thumbs up from me. Until then, two thumbs down.

[susandiane]

07:25 AM on 05/06/2012

Didn't read the story, did you?

[Kelly Carroll]

02:18 PM on 05/06/2012

Just because TX pp doesn't perform abortions doesn't mean others don't.

[Richardhstark]

07:28 AM on 05/06/2012

Did you read the article? None of the Planned Parenthood agencies in TX performs abortions. Actually, there is no PP in the country that actually "performs" abortions. They do occasionally refer woman who need them to agencies that do.
Why do you have such a need to prevent women from accessing one small part of their health care over this one issue? No one is forcing you tro have an abortion, nor even advocating the procedure. PP is known for PREVENTING abortions by making contraception available to women.

[Kelly Carroll]

02:20 PM on 05/06/2012

But other PPs do. I don't have any problems with other services they provide. I don't want to pay for abortion with my taxpayer money, which it does, through grant money.

[robyxf]

10:06 PM on 05/06/2012

tell us another one, we don't believe the first one.

[singermhg]

05:34 AM on 05/06/2012

I don't see the big deal about saving Planned Parenthood, when Obamacare takes over and everyone HAS to have insurance PPH will become obsolete!

[primary116]

07:46 AM on 05/06/2012

Better, everyone will have equal and affordable access to health care! Meanwhile, don't stop sending contributions to PP.

[wmplaster]

08:39 AM on 05/06/2012

Who will pay when people receiving all the cradle-to-grave, taxpayer funded government programs outnumber the people paying for these "goodies"? As a healthcare professional, I agree that all people should have affordable healthcare, but it shouldn't be managed by the government. If the so-called "free" programs continue, there will be a revolt by the people paying the bill, and it probably won't be pretty. Get the healthcare problem fixed without making it a political football. And, while they are at it, fix the immigration problem, which in itself, will reduce medical costs. It appears everyting in this country has become "us" versus "them" and as a consequence, nothing posiotive is getting accomplished by government officials in either party.

[singermhg]

07:26 PM on 05/06/2012

Equal and affordable for everyone? You are kidding, right? I won't support Planned Parenthood as song as they support Abortion. But if you want to send them money you go right ahead.

[Lady1genius]

05:30 PM on 05/06/2012

"Everyone" won't have insurance, and PP will never be obsolete. Do you think "Obamacare" will make everyone rich? Do you think Medicare and Medicaid will cease to be the insurers of a large number of people? Who exactly do you think will be providing the CARE that is now provided by PP? I don't see anyone else lining up... do you?

[synergie]

01:26 AM on 05/07/2012

Apparently "obamacare" brought to you by the Heritage Foundation will magically make hospitals appear out of nowhere to serve the underserved populations of this country.

[tccat4]

04:03 AM on 05/06/2012

Bash Texas all you want.. at least they listen to their women....

[Richardhstark]

07:30 AM on 05/06/2012

What do you mean by "listen to their women"? I don't see it that way. Please explain.

[primary116]

07:47 AM on 05/06/2012

am I correct that they listen to them scream when being slapped; I think it's a "spare the rod and spoil the child" state, no?

[Matt Kramer]

03:52 AM on 05/06/2012

At 18 my girlfriend and I started having sex however, we weren't being smart about it and were just using condoms. After a while eventually a condom broke and had to deal with the miseries of waiting to see if she was pregnant. Luckily she wasn't. That night listening to loveline on Q101 I found out about planned parenthood and the discounted birth control as I or my gf couldn't afford a normal docter. We both had an STD screening both came back negative. The visit cost $100.00 and the B.C was only $20.00 a month which I gladley paid for. I wouldn't have been able to afford a normal doctor but planned parenthood stepped up. If not for them I probably would be a father now which I never intend to be. I am 27 happy healthy and std free.

[primary116]

07:59 AM on 05/06/2012

As teenagers, my gf became pregnant, and there was no help prior to Roe. We tried to abort it ourselves, even went horseback riding. That having failed, we planned to run away as soon as she turned 18.
The pregnancy was discovered, and after the trauma, parents supported us 100%. As opponents of abortion will point out, the scars of abortion would have lasted a lifetime for us both. Our daughter grew up well, however, her mother was detached emotionally, and for whatever reason, my precious daughter chose to "disconnect" at age 24, leaving a gap in my heart the size of the Grand Canyon.
40 years later I now have two children, 4 and 6, yet there is no replacement for a lost child.

[Sabrae]

12:35 PM on 05/06/2012

I'm sorry to hear of your situation, but this proves you cannot force a woman into a mother role.
It seems to me that she tried to live up to expectations, but had no desire mother a child.

You have to want to be a parent to be 'motherly'.

[Minerva Schwartz]

10:25 AM on 05/06/2012

Almost all B.C. pills are bet. $10-$20. goto MedTipster.com to search for them and any other prescriptions you need filled ... they tell you the best deal at the closest pharmacy to you. Ex. KMart has lots of prescriptions @ $5/90 days! My friend w/breast cancer got hers for $24/90 days at Kroger instead of the $75/mo with help from organizations like PP.

[K August]

04:13 PM on 05/06/2012

BC pills are not like aspirin .......a one size fits all.
They are specific prescriptions that take a Doctors appointment and testing to see what works best for each patient.

[synergie]

01:54 AM on 05/07/2012

Um, how much was the doctor's visit to get the PRESCRIPTION that you can get filled at all those places you mentioned?

[joycev]

03:39 AM on 05/06/2012

I applaud the judges for their decision. I am in total bewilderment that the governmental men in Texas think they have a right to tell me what to do with my body. I used to dream of winning the lottery to use the money to aid all the children in foster care and make sure that no child ever went hungry, now I want to win so I could hire a big name lawyer to take the governor and his band of rightous good old boys down. They apparently want to put women back in the 1800s so they have no say so about their bodies. I am not pro abortion I am pro choice. I believe that each woman has to justified to their GOD what ever choice they make. I do not believe I should throw stones about some one elses decision. AND I definitly do not believe the government has any right to take my money and refuse to help poor women all over Texas becase they want to make a name for themselves. What I don't understant is why women are standing for this treatment. Maybe, like me they are waiting for the elections so we can vote Perry out of office. I would like to know if any of these politicians have foster or adopted an unwanted child who needs a home. I would support no abortions if there were not thousands of children waiting to be adopted. They should be part of the solution.

[fivehole84]

05:39 AM on 05/06/2012

In no way are they telling you what you can do with your body. That are saying that tax payers wont fund whatever you want to do with your body. There is a huge difference.

[rainbow cadet]

06:52 AM on 05/06/2012

Texas is not telling you what you can or cannot do with your body. Texas is stating that they are not paying for your lifestyle choices. Texas not funding PPH does not prevent you from paying for your own abortion or birth control choice.

[Lady1genius]

05:39 PM on 05/06/2012

Right. Stop paying for birth control and see what happens. PP SAVES the taxpayers money by preventing unwanted pregnancies.

[joycev]

12:49 PM on 05/07/2012

Since Planned Parenthood is not about abortions but about health care for the ones who can not pay for it why are they making such a big deal over iT. Why not try to help the living unwanted children who are already born. It is my understanding that Planned Parenthood clinics here in TX do not do abortions anyway so why are we wasting my and all other tax payers money on this one law suit mess. Put it on the ballot and let all voters decide not just a few politicians. Once again help the ones already born. For your information I have 2 bio kids, 6 adopted kids and had over a 1000 foster kids. At least I am trying to help the ones already in need. Think how many more children could be helped with the money being wasted over this nonsence law suit. It could go to foster care or education, something that would make a difference. I read another blog earlier that said prohibition did not stop drinking. war on drugs have not slowed drugs down and stopping legal abortins will not stop abortions (just more will die from them). I chose to have my children but it's not my God given right to judge other people choices. But this is not about abortions, it's about low income medical care.

[spikedance]

03:26 AM on 05/06/2012

Good for Texas women! Now you have a "woman" in Arizona warring on her own gender. She's one of those frightening creatures that cheer behind republican men who are trying to throw us back into the Stone Age. Of course none of these woman are affected by any of this. Or so they think.

[joycev]

03:45 AM on 05/06/2012

I agree with you. The women who stand behind these pompas men have plenty of money (most of them live off their husbands money) and don't need aid to get medical care. I wonder who would adopt all these unwanted babies if abortion was out lawed . I guess they would join the other thousands of children waiting to be adopted.

[Lady1genius]

05:43 PM on 05/06/2012

Quite simply, making abortion illegal never stopped abortion. Any more than prohibition stopped people from drinking alcohol. Or look how well the "war on drugs" is going.

[dleskin28]

03:12 AM on 05/06/2012

As well, it's so typically small minded to see PPH as one huge abortion clinic. Do yourself a BIG favor and educate yourself to "ALL" the services PPH provides for sooooo many women, men and families.

[fivehole84]

05:40 AM on 05/06/2012

It is kind of like how people who cheer for Planned Parenthood try to act like they are the only place in town that offers these services.

[primary116]

08:06 AM on 05/06/2012

Defund PP and restrict abortions generally, and watch organized crime take it over as with prohibition.

[Lady1genius]

05:45 PM on 05/06/2012

They DO accept Medicaid, and never turn anyone away for inability to pay. There's something to be said for that. Can you say the same about "all the other places", Buckaroo?