Liberal judge blocks Alabama from canceling Planned Parenthood contract

MONTGOMERY, Ala. –  U.S. District Judge Judge Myron Thompson granted a preliminary injunction to Planned Parenthood this morning to block the state from canceling a contract with the abortion provider.

Governor Robert Bentley terminated the state’s contract with the Planned Parenthood Southeast affiliate, which operates in Birmingham and Mobile, after a series videos revealed other clinics were altering abortions to sell baby parts for a profit.

The Planned Parenthood Southeast network previously received around $4,000 annually from the state in the form of family planning grants that were federally matched.

The majority of Planned Parenthood’s funding comes through Medicaid reimbursements, which can’t be touched by the state.

In his letter to the organization, Bentley didn’t outline a precise reason for canceling the contract, instead pointing to its “at-will” status. Judge Thompson ruled this reasoning “falls well outside the range of grounds germane to the purposes of the Medicaid Act.”

“To conclude otherwise would not only strip the Medicaid Act’s free-choice-of-provider provision of all meaning, but also would contravene clear congressional intent to give Medicaid beneficiaries the right to receive covered services from any qualified and willing provider,” wrote Thompson.

Though the Planned Parenthood Southeast clinics reportedly do not participate in the “fetal tissue donation” program, Governor Bentley said when he canceled the contract that he doesn’t want the state to be affiliated in any way with an organization which sanctions the practice.

“The deplorable practices at Planned Parenthood have been exposed to Americans, and I have decided to stop any association with the organization in Alabama,” Bentley said at the time. “As a doctor and Alabama’s Governor, the issue of human life, from conception to birth and beyond, is extremely important to me. I respect human life, and I do not want Alabama to be associated with an organization that does not.”

This isn’t the first time Judge Thompson has given Planned Parenthood exactly what they want in court.

In August 2014 Thompson struck down vital parts of the 2013 Women’s Health and Safety Act.

In Thompson’s lengthy opinion, he wrote that “The evidence compellingly demonstrates that the requirement would have the striking result of closing three of Alabama’s five abortion clinics, clinics which perform only early abortions, long before viability.”

The potential for closing the abortion clinics was important to Thompson as he made his decision because he said that abortion rights cannot be exercised without a provider, similar to how Second Amendment rights cannot be exercised without a place to buy weapons and ammunition.

Governor Bentley reacted to the ruling with disappointment.

“For the last two months, Alabama has denied payment to Planned Parenthood Southeast. The good news is that as a result of the strong opposition by Alabama and a few other states to the practice of accepting reimbursement for harvesting fetal organs, the national Planned Parenthood organization has changed course and will no longer continue this deplorable practice,” said Bentley in a press release Wednesday afternoon. “I am disappointed, and vehemently disagree with the Court’s ruling today. We are reviewing the opinion and will determine the next legal steps within the appeal period.”