Texas Can't Defund Planned Parenthood, but Bigger Battle Looms

A federal judge has blocked Texas from slashing Medicaid dollars for America's biggest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood.

The Lone Star State moved to cut the funding after undercover videos from the Center for Medical Progress in 2015 exposed Planned Parenthood working to sell aborted baby body parts.

Texas health officials accused Planned Parenthood officials of misleading investigators following the release of the videos.

But U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks of Austin blasted Texas for focusing its concerns on those disturbing videos.

"A secretly recorded video, fake names, a grand jury indictment, congressional investigations - these are the building blocks of a best-selling novel rather than a case concerning the interplay of federal and state authority through the Medicaid program," Sparks wrote.

Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said the state intends to appeal the ruling.
 
"No taxpayer in Texas should have to subsidize this repugnant and illegal conduct. We should never lose sight of the fact that as long as abortion is legal in the United States, the potential for these types of horrors will continue," Paxton said in a statement.

While Texas will fight on in the courts, one big question is still hanging over the entire funding battle over Planned Parenthood. Will Congress and the Trump administration work to completely defund Planned Parenthood?

So far the signs from the new administration have been promising. In one of his first acts as president, Trump banned U.S. funding to international groups that perform abortions or even provide information about abortions.

And Vice President Mike Pence strongly opposes abortion, citing his Catholic beliefs, while the newly confirmed health secretary, Tom Price, has also supported cutting off taxpayer money to Planned Parenthood.

On the state level, Texas is now at least the sixth state, including Arkansas, Alabama, Kansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana, where federal courts have kept Planned Parenthood eligible for Medicaid reimbursements for non-abortion services.

Planned Parenthood serves only a fraction of the 4.3 million people enrolled in Medicaid in Texas.

The abortion giant claims to offer cancer screenings and health care for women. But investigations by pro-life groups like Live Action have revealed Planned Parenthood never performs mammograms, and hardly ever offers prenatal care.

When a woman called a Planned Parenthood clinic in Dallas and asked for pregnancy services, she was told, "We only offer termination services."

These undercover videos by Live Action provide the shocking proof: