In Texas, a lawsuit was filed last Friday over the intention of the state to cut off funding on abortion services, adding fuel to Planned Parenthood problems.
The Planned Parenthood organization requested U.S. Attorney Sam Sparks to block Texas from denying the Medicaid funding of health services that could potentially affect the lives of 11,000 low income women each year.
Planned Parenthood asserts that $4 million of funding from the state could help majority of women get the reproductive health services they need such as gynecological exams and screening for sexually transmitted diseases. These health programs are basic services that are provided by the organization aside from being the nation's largest provider of abortion services.
The Planned Parenthood problem of funding arose when Texas, one of the Republican-controlled states, moved to block Medicaid funding to the organization last year following the release of a video of an anti-abortionist group, Valley Central reports.
The video appeared to be secretly recorded and heavily edited to make Planned Parenthood look culpable of some violations inside the clinics. Officials of the organization denied any wrongdoings, and investigations by 13 states concluded without any criminal charges.
However, Republicans all over the nation are determined to cut down funding for the organization because they provide abortion services.
So far, federal judges have already stopped Arkansas, Alabama, Kansas, and Mississippi from similarly blocking Medicaid fund for the operation of Planned Parenthood services. These states have also moved to defund the organization in the wake of the release of the video, KSAT says.
Texas is supposed to proceed cutting off the funds on January 21 unless U.S. Attorney Sam Sparks interferes. Sparks is set to begin the hearing of the case on January 17.
The Planned Parenthood spokesperson conveys a positive perspective on the outcome of the lawsuit, saying that courts couldn't violate federal laws by blocking a woman's right to quality reproductive health service.
Similar cases of lawsuits against the state have been filed the past year as reported earlier.
For now, Planned Parenthood problems escalate at the possibility of President Donald Trump stripping the organization $400 million of Medicaid funding since taking office.
