Texas Lawsuit Could Put Planned Parenthood Out Of Business

As the nation’s leading provider of abortion services, Planned Parenthood has long been a prominent rival of pro-life advocates and organizations. 

In the wake of last year’s U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning the Roe v. Wade decision and returning the power to establish abortion restrictions to the individual states, Planned Parenthood has faced renewed threats to its viability — at least in Republican-led parts of the country.

But the legal battle that could spell the end of Planned Parenthood altogether predates the Supreme Court ruling. Texas, which curtailed Medicaid payments to Planned Parenthood in late 2016, took the abortion provider to court over claims that it continued to accept those funds in violation of the state prohibition.

Although Planned Parenthood fought back and initially received a favorable decision in federal court, Texas appealed and chalked up a victory in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in 2020. The following year, another challenge ended with the appeals court decision being upheld.

The lawsuit seeks $17 million in returned Medicaid funds accepted after Feb. 1, 2017 — but Planned Parenthood is now complaining that the total costs could put the entire organization out of business. 

A ruling could include individual fines for each of these payments, which some estimates suggest could top $1 billion.

Planned Parenthood Federation of American President Alexis McGill Johnson argued that the “baseless case is an active effort to shut down Planned Parenthood health centers.”

For his part, however, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton defended the lawsuit in a statement last year, calling it “unthinkable that Planned Parenthood would continue to take advantage of funding knowing they were not entitled to keep it.”

“Medicaid providers in Texas are required to follow Texas Medicaid policies and federal and state law,” asserted Texas Right to Life in a statement about the lawsuit. “The Texas Office of the Inspector General (OIG) found Planned Parenthood violated federal regulations by altering abortion procedures to harvest baby body parts. Thus, the OIG terminated Planned Parenthood’s provider contract.”

Pro-abortion activists are also upset about the presiding judge in the case, Matthew Kacsmaryk, who handed down a ruling earlier this year that defied the Biden administration by implementing a hold on the approval of the abortion drug mifepristone.