Planned Parenthood is hoping yesterday’s federal appeals court ruling on women’s health care in Indiana will persuade Texas officials to reconsider its ban on the organization.
The court said Indiana could not block Medicaid funds for Planned Parenthood’s clinics because the organization also provides abortions. That violated the patients’ right to choose their own providers.
Though the legal arguments in Texas are different Planned Parenthood attorney Helene Krasnoff hopes Texas will reconsider plans to end Planned Parenthood’s treatment of 48,000 women on November 1.
“(We) sincerely hope that seeing that other such efforts are not acceptable and illegal would make politicians stop playing politics with women’s health care in this way,” said Karsnoff who is the lead attorney in Planned Parenthood’s case against the State of Texas.
Texas has said that by rejecting federal Medicaid funds it can block Planned Parenthood from its Women’s Health Program. Planned Parenthood provides family planning, cancer screenings and other health services for some 43% of the women in Texas’ program now, and continues to fight the state’s decision in federal court.