It’s been a year of victories for Planned Parenthood and anybody who believes in reproductive rights. This week brought two additional ones.
On Sunday, U.S. District Judge Dee Benson, a George H.W. Bush appointee, reinforced a July ruling by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals by barring Republican Utah Gov. Gary Herbert from denying funding to Planned Parenthood for its advocacy of legal abortion. Herbert had ignored the appeals court’s decision.
Planned Parenthood sued in 2015 after Herbert had cut the group’s funding when taped interviews purported to show it was engaged in making a profit off illegally selling fetal tissue from abortions.
In a mealy-mouthed bit of reporting Wednesday, the Salt Lake Tribune wrote that “The videos did not include Utah clinics and were later determined to be inaccurate and misleading ...” Uh, try “intentionally altered to show activity that never happened” instead.
The videos originally sparked fury among politicians (including some prominent Democrats who should have known better) as well as celebrations by forced birthers who figured they’d found a nail for Planned Parenthood’s coffin. But investigations by several states and the media have shown that the claims of tissue sales do not stand up to even modest scrutiny.
The 10th Circuit Court ruled that it likely could be shown that Herbert's decision was made for political reasons in violation of constitutional protections for speech and association. [...]
[Judge Benson’s order does not require the state to continue to contract with Planned Parenthood, but says any decision to cut off funding or not renew a contract requires a statement in writing stating legitimate reasons for doing so.
"Such a basis cannot include unproven allegations against the national Planned Parenthood organization or its affiliates or the plaintiff's provision of or advocacy for legal abortion," the order states.
And then there is Wisconsin.
After negotiating a settlement among all parties. the federal district court for the Western District of Wisconsin ruled Thursday that the state must pay Planned Parenthood $1.6 million. The money is for legal costs the organization incurred fighting a 2013 law pushed by Gov. Scott Walker and the Republican-dominated state legislature to require abortion clinic doctors to have admitting privileges at a hospital no more than 30 miles away. Attorneys for the plaintiffs had sought another $200,000.
A federal court had blocked the law from being implemented soon after it was passed and appeals by Wisconsin officials failed to reverse that decision, so the law never went into effect.
This year, in another victory for Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers, the U.S. Supreme Court knocked down portions of a Texas law that included the admitting privileges requirement in that state. Until that decision, 11 states mandated admitting privileges or an alternative arrangement for abortion clinics. Every state still enforcing the mandate will ultimately have to give them up even though some will surely have to be sued into compliance.
Of course, it’s the taxpayers who ultimately cover these costs, which were driven higher by Wisconsin’s two failed appeals. State officials will have to transfer money from other programs to cover the settlement. Given who runs the government in Wisconsin, it’s not hard to imagine what kind of programs will suffer as a result. Nonetheless, it’s a victory for the forces of light. Hannah Levintova at Mother Jones writes:
"This settlement should send a message to politicians that laws that are designed to obstruct a woman's access to an abortion are not only unconstitutional, but they are a misuse of taxpayer resources," said Jennifer Dalven, director of the reproductive freedom project at the ACLU, in an emailed statement to Mother Jones.
This settlement comes on the heels of similar legal fee awards in three other states. In March, North Carolina had to pay $1 million to the Center for Reproductive Rights, Planned Parenthood, and the ACLU after losing a federal lawsuit over a law requiring providers to show women seeking abortions ultrasound images of their fetuses, accompanied by a description of the image contents from their physician, at least four hours before getting the procedure. The state also appealed the decision multiple times, driving up the legal tab. Ultimately, North Carolina had to dip into an emergency fund to pay the settlement.
But 2016 isn’t over. With three-and-a-half months to go, perhaps we’ll see some more wins for reproductive rights before Christmas.