Judge blocks Texas from fully defunding Planned Parenthood day before the action was to take effect



A Texas judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked the state from kicking Planned Parenthood out of the its Medicaid program, a move that would have completely unhooked state taxpayers from funding the abortion provider.

The order came after Planned Parenthood filed a last-minute lawsuit Wednesday — the last day before the action was set to take effect — asking courts to step in and pause the effort. The emergency lawsuit argued that state officials did not give the state's approximately 8,000 Medicaid patients enough time to find other providers.

Travis County Judge Maya Guerra Gamble agreed that patients should be afforded more time and granted a temporary restraining order on the action, setting a hearing for Feb. 17.

Republicans in Texas have been trying to oust Planned Parenthood from the state's Medicaid program for several years, ever since an undercover video posted in 2015 by the pro-life group Center for Medical Progress purportedly showed the abortion provider illegally selling baby tissue it had obtained from abortion operations.

In 2017, a federal judge blocked the effort. But late last year, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the decision, clearing the way for Texas to finally go through with the effort. Following the ruling, Planned Parenthood asked Texas health officials for at least six months to help transition patients to other providers, but the state thought that excessive and offered a 30-day transition period instead.

In the lawsuit, Planned Parenthood characterized the effort as just "one more assault against the same communities that face unjust, systemic barriers to basic human rights, including access to affordable health care, education, and housing."

Now, with more time on its hands, Planned Parenthood will await potential action by the Biden administration, which has already shown urgency in reversing Trump-era policies pertaining to abortion and health care.

"This comes a week after the Biden-Harris administration made it clear it would put an end to Trump-era attacks against health care, including programs like Medicaid," Planned Parenthood Texas Votes said in a press release. "Texas's Medicaid 'defunding' offers a clear example of how critical it is for the Biden-Harris administration to stop attacks that target the reproductive health care of people with low incomes, women, and people of color."

Donald Trump Pledges to Defund Planned Parenthood in Next Term

President Donald Trump pledged to pro-life Americans in a letter released Thursday that he will defund Planned Parenthood if he is elected to a second term in November.

Planned Parenthood’s favorite Republicans block the Senate’s latest defund effort

The two most reliable pro-abortion Republicans in the United States Senate joined with Democrats yet again yesterday to snuff out the latest effort to cut off Planned Parenthood’s taxpayer-funded gravy train.

The vote Thursday came after Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., the amendment’s sponsor, made a lot of noise on the Senate floor about Republicans trying to block the effort. He asked, “What is more important to these Republicans: Saving lives or spending money?”

Of course, these are the same two Republican senators who voted with most Democrats on whether it should be legal to abort an unborn child after 20 weeks. They’re the same Republicans who introduced legislation defending Planned Parenthood’s government funding months after the first undercover videos came out in 2015. They’re the same Republicans who voted to keep an Obama rule prohibiting states from making their own decisions about funding Planned Parenthood. And these are also the same two who also stood shoulder to shoulder with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and a handful of others to kill even the most watered-down version of Obamacare repeal last year.

Of course, some standard-issue establishment types were none too thrilled about the amendment either, as it might have presented a legislative “spoiler” and government shutdown.

It’s been over three years since the first undercover video showing Planned Parenthood’s gruesome behind-the-scenes practices was released. During fiscal year 2016-2017, the abortion giant managed to pull down over $500 million of your federal tax dollars.

And while the Republicans may use the vote as campaign fodder to hurt vulnerable Democrats in the midterm elections, they never think of going after Collins and Murkowski with the same fervor. No, in Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s Senate, both will keep their committee chairmanships and continue carrying water for the abortion lobby with absolutely no consequence whatsoever.

Despite the videos, despite the breathless campaign promises, despite the best efforts of the legitimate pro-lifers on Capitol Hill, hundreds of millions of your tax dollars will continue to go to an organization that takes the lives of hundreds of thousands of unborn children in the United States every year.

But hey, at least we're avoiding another government shutdown, right?

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