Judge says Kansas can't cut Planned Parenhood's Medicaid money

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - Kansas cannot cut off Medicaid funding for two Planned Parenthood affiliates, a federal judge said Tuesday.
U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson in Kansas City, Kansas, issued the temporary ruling in a lawsuit filed by Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri and the organization's St. Louis affiliate.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment planned to cut off funding by Thursday for health services offered at Planned Parenthood facilities, such as exams and cancer screenings, for poor patients receiving health coverage through the state's Medicaid program.
Federal courts blocked attempts by other states to cut off Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood, including Arkansas, Arizona, Indiana, and Utah.
In its defense, Kansas' health department cited a dispute in December over its attempts to inspect the handling of solid waste at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Overland Park which was later resolved. Planned Parenthood attorneys argue the organization is being targeted because it provides abortions.
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, a conservative Republican, is a vocal abortion opponent.
Kansas already has blocked Planned Parenthood from receiving federal family planning dollars for non-abortion services in the state. The affiliate provides both surgical and medication abortions at its clinic in Overland Park, in far eastern Kansas near Kansas City, Missouri. It began providing the medication abortions at its Wichita clinic in March.
Planned Parenthood's St. Louis affiliate is involved in the lawsuit because its clinic in Joplin serves some Kansas patients.
Kansas initially planned to cut off Medicaid funding on May 10, but the state delayed the action three times after the lawsuit was filed.
Heath department officials have cited videos secretly recorded and released last year by anti-abortion activists that show Planned Parenthood officials in other states talking about the handling of fetal tissues. Planned Parenthood officials contend the videos were selectively edited as part of a smear campaign, and two anti-abortion activists involved in the videos have been indicted on criminal charges in Texas.