Planned Parenthood regains funding

Planned parenthood protest photo by ABC News

By Justin Crain

5 Rights | staff writer

Planned Parenthood offices will stay open as U.S District Court Judge Tanya Walton Pratt ruled in the organizations favor over a new law, which strips Medicaid funding from the agency.

The decision means 9,300 Medicaid patients can again receive necessary services such as Pap tests, breasts exams, STD testings and other exams the health care agency provides.

Planned Parenthood CEO Betty Cockrum said the ruling will have an immediate impact.

“This decision will have immediate, positive consequences for our patients and our organization, the state’s largest reproductive health care provider,” said Cockrum in a press release issued Friday after the ruling.

Sen. Scott Schneider, the Republican who authored the bill during the most recent Indiana General Assembly, told the Associated Press: “The whole ruling is disappointing in my opinion. In my opinion, it’s judicial activism.” The governor who signed HEA 2011 into law refused to issue a statement on the ruling.

Even though the judge’s decision favors Planned Parenthood, the agency still seeks a permanent injunction to the law that defunds Medicaid payments. Kate Shepherd, a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood said that agency officials hope that a hearing is set by the end of the year.

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