June 28, 2011 | Read Time: 1 minute
Planned Parenthood went to court Monday to stop Kansas from stripping its government aid, The Kansas City Star writes.
The latest legal volley in the burgeoning battle between state houses and the reproductive-health group came three days after a federal judge blocked Indiana’s effort to cut off money to Planned Parenthood clinics that provide health care to Medicaid recipients, notes The New York Times.
The lawsuit, filed Monday by Planned Parenthood of Kansas and mid-Missouri, seeks to nullify a provision in the 2012 Kansas budget, which takes effect Friday, redirecting state-administered U.S. family planning funds administered to state and local health clinics.
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback defended the measure, saying, “The law currently says the plaintiff does not qualify for public subsidy because of its business practices, and Kansas taxpayers have made it clear they do not wish to underwrite organizations that perform abortions.”
In Indiana, Judge Tanya Walton Pratt ruled Friday that portions of that state’s new law–which denies support to Planned Parenthood clinics because some of them perform abortions–conflict with federal rules that allow Medicaid recipients to select their own health-care providers.
On June 1, the Obama administration denied Indiana’s request to drop Planned Parenthood from Medicaid support. Judge Pratt’s decision said the conflict could ultimately prompt the federal government to cut Indiana off from all Medicaid money.
Read The Chronicle’s coverage of efforts in other states to ban government support of Planned Parenthood.
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