By Corrie MacLaggan
AUSTIN, Texas, Nov 8 (Reuters) - A Texas judge ruled on
Thursday that the state cannot ban Planned Parenthood, for now,
from offering health care to low-income women through a
state-run program even though some of the group's family
planning and health clinics perform abortions.
"This is another victory for the women in Texas," Pete
Schenkkan, a lawyer representing the group, told reporters after
state District Judge Stephen Yelenosky said he would halt
enforcement of the Texas law while Planned Parenthood's lawsuit
contesting the state ban proceeds.
Although the Texas health program does not pay for
abortions, earlier this year the state decided to enforce a law
that had been on the books for several years barring funding for
abortion providers and affiliates.
Planned Parenthood said it does not provide abortions at
clinics that participate in the Texas Women's Health Program,
but it is the nation's leading reproductive health and abortion
provider and the state objects to its affiliation with clinics
that do provide abortions.
A state district judge last month issued a temporary order
blocking the state from enforcing the ban. That order was set to
expire Friday. Planned Parenthood argued in court on Thursday
that the ban is invalid under state law.
The Obama administration told Texas this week that federal
funding - which pays for most of the Women's Health Program's
$40 million annual cost - will stop at the end of the year. The
program provides care such as breast and cervical cancer
screenings and birth control, and Planned Parenthood says it
serves nearly half the 115,000 Texas women who participate.
"We cannot continue to provide full federal funding for a
program that is not in compliance with federal law any longer
than is necessary to minimize disruption in care to
beneficiaries," Cindy Mann of the Centers for Medicare &
Medicaid Services told Texas health officials in a letter on
Wednesday.
In state district court in Austin on Thursday, Patricio
Gonzales, chief executive of a Planned Parenthood affiliate in
South Texas, testified that losing the funding would lead to the
closure of two or three of his four clinics.
Mann told Texas officials: "It remains very important to us
that the state complete its transition of the program before the
end of the year to ensure there is not an abrupt end to services
for beneficiaries."
Governor Rick Perry has said that the Texas is ready to roll
out a state-funded program.
Planned Parenthood sued in state court after a federal
appeals court declined to reconsider a ruling allowing Texas to
exclude it. Earlier this week, the family planning organization
filed a motion asking for its federal lawsuit to be paused while
it pursues the state case.
Perry said on Thursday Planned Parenthood's efforts to bring
suits in different courts were a "stalling tactic."
"Venue shopping and courtroom sleight-of-hand in no way
helps the women of Texas. We see their stalling tactic for what
it is - yet another attempt to unashamedly defy the will of
Texas voters and taxpayers."
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