The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals lifted an injunction forbidding Texas from stripping Planned Parenthood of Medicaid funds.
U.S. District Court Judge Sam Sparks wrote in the original ruling that the state had acted “without cause” in terminating the reproductive health care organization [and abortion ring].
But a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said that Sparks did not use the correct standard in making his decision. The case now returns to Sparks for reconsideration.
THE STORY
The case involved an eight-hour, secretly recorded video released in 2015 by the pro-life group Center for Medical Progress in which Planned Parenthood employees at an abortion clinic in Houston callously discussed the ghoulish collection of fetal tissue for research projects.
Stuart Bowen, inspector general for the state’s Health and Human Services Commission, said the footage showed that the group was willing to “violate generally accepted medical standards.”
And the state argued that “Planned Parenthood was breaking the law by offering to acquire specific amounts of fetal tissue by altering abortion procedures to retrieve tissue for research purposes or allowing the researchers themselves to perform the procedures.
The court concluded that “the plaintiffs’ briefing with regard to the substance of the discussions contained in the videos (as opposed to their trial witnesses’ post hoc justifications) is curiously silent.”
The decision is very significant for its harsh criticism of Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider.
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“Planned Parenthood’s reprehensible conduct, captured in undercover videos, proves that it is not a ‘qualified’ provider under the Medicaid Act, so we are confident we will ultimately prevail,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement after Thursday’s ruling.
The case will return to a federal trial court, where Planned Parenthood will have another chance to secure an injunction against Texas.
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