Planned Parenthood wins legal victory; Indiana law blocked

WISHTV.COM

Jim Shella

Updated: Oct 23, 2012 4:44 PM

Efforts by the state of Indiana to defund Planned Parenthood have been blocked by a federal appeals court.  It’s a major victory for Planned Parenthood and 24 Hour News 8′s Jim Shella is here to report it may have an effect in other states, too.  That’s because 8 states have patterned their own laws after the the 2011 Indiana law that took medicaid funding away from Planned Parenthood.

The federal appeals court said, in effect, that state lawmakers can’t change federal medicaid rules.  For Planned Parenthood clinics in Indiana it means a million dollars a year in federal funding will continue to come in.  It’s money that state lawmakers tried to divert to other clinics.  “And it it is absolutely true that the services that are provided are indeed basic preventive reproductive health care,” says Planned Parenthood of Indiana CEO Betty Cockrum.

When state Representative Eric Turner (R-Cicero) in 2011 authored the amendment in question in 2011 it was done in an effort punish the state’s only abortion provider.  “And I think the net result will be less abortions in this state,” said Rep. Turner at the time.  The governor signed the measure into law and, on the day he signed it, explained why during a taping of Mike Ahern One on One.  “The charges that anybody would lose access to health care are not true,” said Mitch Daniels.  “I know folks are concerned they might be, but they’re not.”

A local federal judge disagreed and now so has the federal appeals court but Indiana Right to Life wants the decision appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.  “And we know that there’s a majority who don’t want their taxpayer dollars to fund entities that provide abortion,” said Sue Swayze of Indiana Right to Life.

Planned Parenthood says the ruling means it can provide health care to over 9,000 women.  Planned Parenthood of Indiana’s budget is $15 million a year, so a million dollars means a lot.

The appeals court did uphold one portion of the new state law that blocks federal grants from going to Planned Parenthood.  That decision will cost the agency $150,000 dollars.

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