Good for Rick Perry, bad for Texas women.
(Mario Anzuoni/Reuters)
Monday, a federal judge issued a temporary injunction saying Texas could not prohibit Medicaid recipients from going to Planned Parenthood for things like mammograms. Emphasis on the "temporary," though, because Tuesday, an appeals court ruled that Texas can exclude Planned Parenthood. And of course Rick Perry's administration is jumping on that:
The ruling, by Judge Jerry Smith of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, reversed a lower court ruling Monday in favor of the family planning organization. The decision on Tuesday means the state is free for now to enforce a new rule banning Planned Parenthood from the Women's Health Program, Texas officials said.
"At this point, Planned Parenthood is not an eligible provider in the Women's Health Program," Stephanie Goodman, a spokeswoman for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, said on Tuesday.
Because of Rick Perry's determination to keep low-income Texas women from getting cancer screening at clinics that also might provide abortions—even though in Texas, Planned Parenthood separated its abortion services from its other services specifically to address that "concern"—Texas
stands to lose Medicaid funding for basic health and family planning services, since its restriction of free choice of health care providers is in violation of federal law.