Planned Parenthood funding ban OK’d

AUSTIN, Texas – Texas can cut off funding to Planned Parenthood’s family planning programs for poor women, a state judge ruled Monday, requiring thousands to find new state-approved doctors for their annual exams, cancer screenings and birth control.

Judge Gary Harger said Texas may exclude otherwise qualified doctors and clinics from receiving state funding if they advocate for abortion rights.

Texas has long banned the use of state funds for abortion, but had continued to reimburse Planned Parenthood clinics for providing basic health care to poor women through the state’s Women’s Health Program. The program provides preventive care to 110,000 poor women a year, and Planned Parenthood clinics were treating 48,000 of them.

Planned Parenthood’s lawsuit to stop the rule will still go forward, but the judge decided Monday that the ban may go into effect for now.

Ken Lambrecht, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas, said, “It is shocking that once again Texas officials are letting politics jeopardize health care access for women.”