The legal fight between Planned Parenthood and the State of Texas continues with a lawsuit filed on January 6, 2022, by Attorney General Ken Paxton.
The lawsuit seeks a repayment by Planned Parenthood for $10 million in Medicaid payments that the state says the organization acquired when it lost the right to receive Medicaid reimbursement in February 2017 because Planned Parenthood failed to appeal the notice of termination.
Planned Parenthood is calling the lawsuit a “political attack.”
The Texas Tribune quoted Planned Parenthood Federation of America general counsel Kumiki Gibson, who called the lawsuit “meritless” and said, “Planned Parenthood will continue to fight back against all of these false accusations and political attacks and will continue serving patients in Texas – no matter what.”
Texas first filed a lawsuit to have Planned Parenthood removed from its Medicaid program in 2016 after a secretly recorded video taken by anti-abortion activists circulated online in 2015. The footage showed what appeared to be Planned Parenthood representatives having discussions about illegally selling fetal tissue.
Planned Parenthood sued the producers of the video, who admitted to secretly recording and splicing the footage. The organization won its fraud case against the producers and was awarded three million dollars in damages.
Many states have filed lawsuits trying to stop the funding of Planned Parenthood, and the courts intervened on Planned Parenthood’s behalf in 2017, blocking Texas’ notice of termination.
The decision was reversed in November 2020 by the fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Planned Parenthood filed an emergency lawsuit stating that Texas didn’t follow the proper procedures and was issued a temporary restraining order by a state judge.
In the end, the State won in February 2021, and Planned Parenthood lost its lawsuit to remain on Medicaid funding. Now, Texas wants the money returned that Planned Parenthood received since then.
