Last month Indiana voted to defund Planned Parenthood and the Obama administration is not taking kindly that choice. The AP is reporting that the Obama administration may withhold up to $4.3 billion in Medicaid funding for low income healthcare from 
Indiana if they do not change their mind about defunding Planned Parenthood.
Planned Parenthood has long been a target of pro-life advocates as they perform more than one in four US abortion and are one of the most outspoken political defenders of the procedure. In Indiana, Planned Parenthood performs over half of all abortions based on their latest annual report which showed that they did 5,580 termination procedures. About 10,700 abortions are annually performed statewide by all providers.
The question facing the Obama administration is whether they are willing to leave low-income families without health care to punish Indiana. Last week the White House and HHS ordered Indiana to reinstate funds for Planned Parenthood.
Where do things go from here? Possibilities range from nothing happening at all and the defunding standing to the Obama administration withholding all federal Medicaid funds from Indiana. A compromise is also possible. A legal challenge is active too as LifeNews.com reports that:
Planned Parenthood has sued Indiana over the new law and U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt, who has said she would rule by July 1, is expected to hold a hearing tomorrow on the law.
Mike Fichter, the director of Indiana Right to Life, told LifeNews:
“The Obama administration appears to be intent on trying to force Indiana to subsidize the business of abortion in direct contrast to the desires of the state legislature and the people of Indiana. Indiana must refuse to be bullied by the federal government and must challenge this politically-charged determination with full vigor. The state of Indiana has a right to determine how it will manage its Medicaid program and to select the providers it will partner with. Planned Parenthood is not entitled to public funding,” he said.
