A hearing for a multi-million dollar lawsuit filed against Planned Parenthood by the State of Texas was set for Tuesday.
Filed last year by Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the suit alleges that Planned Parenthood improperly took roughly $10 million in Medicaid payments for health services after being removed from the state’s Medicaid program in 2016.
The plaintiffs are seeking triple the amount of the reimbursements plus civil penalties, amounting to $1.8 billion.
Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider, claims the lawsuit is politically motivated and without merit.
The plaintiff’s goal is “to shut down Planned Parenthood and strip millions of people in Texas and beyond of critical health care like cancer screenings, birth control, and other essential health care,” Planned Parenthood claimed in a news release.
“The assumption that patients will simply obtain their health care elsewhere is simply not true,” Laura Terrill, the CEO of Planned Parenthood South Texas, said. “We’ve seen STI rates increase, maternal mortality rates increase, teen pregnancy increase.”
Hearing the case is U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, who earlier this year rejected the legality of abortion pills, which is the most common form of abortion in the nation, according to the Guttmacher Institute.
The case could pose a major financial threat to Planned Parenthood as abortion restrictions continue to pass in Republican-led states across the nation after the overturn of Roe v. Wade. The organization’s latest financial disclosure shows that 35% of its income is derived through government reimbursements and grants for health services.
Paxton, who is currently suspended as attorney general pending his impeachment trial next month, filed the lawsuit under the federal False Claims Act, which gives authority to the government to fine groups for improper payments.
“It is unthinkable that Planned Parenthood would continue to take advantage of funding knowing they were not entitled to keep it,” Paxton said last year. “I will not allow them to benefit from this abhorrent conduct after they were caught violating medical standards and lying to law enforcement.”
Planned Parenthood counters that it provides other medical care outside of abortion that qualifies it for continued Medicaid reimbursements.
“These are very vulnerable patients,” said Laura Thomas, vice president of patient care at Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast. “And a lot of practices don’t take Medicaid, or they have a long waitlist, or maybe the facility isn’t accessible.”
It is not clear when Kacsmaryk will rule on the case.