As Congress stalls in its attempts to defund Planned Parenthood, a handful of states have succeeded in hitting the organization where it hurts. Texas announced Monday it will strip Planned Parenthood of its Medicaid funds after a 3-year video investigation captured representatives discussing the sale of fetal body parts.
Texas health officials said the videos proved Planned Parenthood was guilty of "acts of misconduct" and informed the state's clinics they had lost their Medicaid privileges.
On Monday, the Texas Health and Human Services Commission’s inspector general, Stuart Bowen, wrote to Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast that the women’s health provider had violated state Medicaid rules and put Texans at risk of infection. Citing the sting videos, Bowen said Planned Parenthood officials disregarded federal law by agreeing to change the timing or method of abortions in order to procure fetal tissue for medical research.
Texas has long been on the offense against Planned Parenthood and abortion. In 2013, Gov. Rick Perry signed House Bill 2, legislation that bans abortions after 20 weeks. That bill closed several of the state's abortion clinics.
Louisiana has also announced it will withhold Medicaid funding from Planned Parenthood. The Obama administration chose to side with Planned Parenthood, however, saying Gov. Bobby Jindal's decision was a violation of federal law. A judge recently announced they will have to pay Planned Parenthood for the time being.
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The footage of Planned Parenthood officials laughing about selling aborted baby parts and profiting off of the grisly business transactions has also been defined as a violation of federal law, not to mention inhumane.
In addition to Texas and Louisiana, five states are moving to completely defund the organization and 13 more are launching investigations into its practices.
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