Planned Parenthood files federal lawsuit against Alabama

Montgomery, AL (WALA) – Planned Parenthood has filed a federal lawsuit to block Governor Robert Bentley's effort to cut off Medicaid payments to the organization's Alabama clinics.

Planned Parenthood Southeast said the move penalizes low-income women who seek contraceptive and preventative health care services at the clinics. The lawsuit was filed in Montgomery federal court.

Earlier this month, Bentley announced he was terminating provider agreements with Planned Parenthood.

In a statement, Planned Parenthood Southeast CEO Staci Fox said Alabama officials were "hell-bent on ending a woman's ability to make her own deeply personal and private health decisions."

"Governor Bentley is trying to dictate where a woman can go for contraception and other preventive care if she's enrolled in Medicaid," the statement said. "Meanwhile, Alabama is dealing with some of the nation's worst health outcomes, and restricting access to providers will do nothing to help the urgent problems we face."

The governor said he was disturbed by hidden-camera videos that accuse the organization of selling fetal organs after abortions.

"I respect human life and do not want Alabama to be associated with an organization that does not," the governor said in a statement last week.

The organization said the program discussed is a long-standing fetal tissue donation program; PPSE does not participate. The organization says the videos were edited to be misleading. Fusion GPS, a private investigative firm hired by Planned Parenthood to analyze the first four videos released, said there were "substantive omissions" in the videos that would not allow them to hold up as evidence in a court of law.

The organization provides abortion services at its clinics in Birmingham and Mobile offices, but Medicaid only pays for abortion in the case of rape or incest, or when a mother's life is in danger.

The lawsuit argues that federal law does not allow a state to cancel services with a qualified health care provider without adequate justification.

"Longstanding Medicaid laws prohibit states from restricting individuals who have coverage through Medicaid from receiving care from a qualified provider," a statement from HHS said. "By restricting which provider a woman could choose to receive care from, women could lose access to critical preventive care, such as cancer screenings."

The lawsuit said Bentley's decision to cancel the contracts due to the videos was unjustified.

"Defendant's actions were taken without regard to the quality of the medical care provided by PPSE to Medicaid patients, and in direct retaliation for PPSE's provision of abortion services and its affiliation with Planned Parenthood," the lawsuit said.

Planned Parenthood has a similar lawsuit against Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal.