Despite losing a long legal battle over their right to Medicaid dollars, Planned Parenthood launched a last minute legal challenge to briefly receive more taxpayer funding.
Last November, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Texas can withdraw Planned Parenthood’s (PP) Medicaid funding, reversing a decision in the lower courts. Pro-Life Texans have been working for years to stop their tax money from going to Planned Parenthood. These efforts were redoubled after the release of the 2015 undercover videos that exposed a Planned Parenthood abortionist revealing that they traffic aborted baby parts by altering abortion procedures to preserve baby organs for this horrific purpose.
PP hypocritically claims that blocking these tax funds will directly harm the most vulnerable individuals in Texas, particularly minority communities. They have also asserted that Medicaid is necessary for assisting needy families during the COVID crisis and that Medicaid reimbursements are already blocked from funding abortion through the Hyde Amendment.
What PP fails to admit is the substantial harm done to women, children, and families in the violent act of abortion: the high risk of damaging a woman’s uterus, extremely high risk of the woman suffering from depression (which can lead to suicide), and the obvious intentional killing of an innocent child. Moreover, Planned Parenthood has systematically targeted minority communities, an ugly truth examined deeply by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas in an official opinion. Lastly, pregnancy resource centers across Texas offer medical and physical aid to women, assisting them in unexpected circumstances, including finding other Medicaid providers.
While PP is not technically supposed to use Medicaid funds for most abortions, the reimbusements allow the abortion giant to reallocate other revenue away from other services to abortion. Realistically, Medicaid tax dollars sent to abortion providers (like PP) do benefit the organization and ultimately results in an increased budget for abortion, even if not technically used for abortion. This is why many concerned Pro-Life Texans are strongly opposed to PP receiving Medicaid tax dollars. Citizens should not be forced to pay for something so morally horrific as abortion, even if they are not technically paying for the abortion directly.
After 5 years of efforts to block PP from receiving Medicaid reimbursements the common sense ruling to remove PP from Medicaid arrived last November. Yet, an Austin federal District Judge, Maya Guerra Gamble, issued a temporary restraining order last week to prevent this action from finally coming to fruition on the claims that two months was not adequate time for Planned Parenthood’s patients to find new providers. PP predictably brought this lawsuit at the last minute, as their call for more time is little more than an excuse to continue receiving taxpayer dollars. With the new hearing set for February 17, Planned Parenthood in Texas will receive Medicaid for another 8 days at a minimum.
Pro-Life Texans are tired of Planned Parenthood preying on our vunerable women and children and undercuting our moral freedom to object to participating in such horrific action. We urge all of you to join us in praying for this hearing to be quick and just, so that Texas can once and for all end the Medicaid funding of PP.
If you are interested in staying up to date on what is happening in the Pro-Life movement across Texas, then text TXLEGE to 56525 or follow Texas Right to Life on any of your social media platforms. God help you and God bless Texas.
