Just days after state health officials declared Planned Parenthood ineligible for Medicaid funding, Kansas was forced to delay the move due to a lawsuit filed on Friday.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri and Planned Parenthood of St. Louis Region, seeks an injunction on the grounds that defunding was “unlawful, unwarranted and politically motivated.” Planned Parenthood stands to lose $61,000 a year if they lose.
The suit follows threats from the Obama Administration that disqualifying Planned Parenthood as a Medicaid recipient is a violation of federal law, though Alliance Defending Freedom has noted that states routinely exercise discretion over whom to contract for Medicaid services without controversy or legal problems.
The health department agreed to delay cutting off Planned Parenthood until May 24, with arguments to be heard in court on May 17. Kansas maintains defunding is justified by the abortion giant’s “unethical or unprofessional conduct.”
Republican Governor Sam Brownback has said the organization’s “trafficking of baby body parts is antithetical to our belief in human dignity,” and Kansas officials have also cited Planned Parenthood’s “lack of cooperation” with inspectors attempting to search the waste of its Overland Park office.
Last week, Kansas also legislatively cut off Planned Parenthood from Title X family planning funds.
