(Bloomberg) — Planned Parenthood sued Texas to stop it from slashing public funds the clinics use to provide reproductive care to poor women.
State health officials moved last month to pull the provider's Medicaid contracts, citing a billing practices investigation and allegedly unethical conduct tied to undercover videos released by anti-abortion activists.
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed this month to review a 2013 Texas law that would force clinics to meet hospital-like surgical standards and require abortion doctors to have admitting privileges at local hospitals. Texas says the rules safeguard patient safety, while opponents say the real aim is to reduce access to abortion.
The high court's ruling, expected in June, may decide the legality of such restrictions, pushed in recent years by several states to more closely regulate abortion clinics. By law, Medicaid funds can't pay for abortions except in very narrow circumstances.
See also: Planned Parenthood promoting Obamacare
Planned Parenthood affiliates have been fighting similar Medicaid cutbacks in federal courts in at least four other states. The clinics have won court orders at least temporarily restoring the funding in all four.
