by Diane Robertson
All of the videos about Planned Parenthood have come out publically. Many people have seen them. Congress has investigated. Some states took Medicaid funding away from Planned Parenthood because of this illegal practice. And now, judges are stepping in.
After some states defunded Planned Parenthood, Planned Parenthood and others sued.
In Utah, Governor Gary Herbert saw the videos and decided that state Medicaid money would be better used at other clinics that service women. Federal Judge Clark Waddoups issued a temporary order to stop the Governor’s directive, and scheduled a hearing for Oct. 15 to consider an injunction that would put the governor’s order on hold pending the outcome of the lawsuit. Judge Waddoups said that it’s in the public interest to maintain the services Planned Parenthood provides.
In Arkansas, Governor Asa Hutchinson decided to withhold Medicaid funding from Planned Parenthood as well. Three citizens sued and Federal Judge Kristine Baker issued a preliminary injunction mandating the state to pay for family planning services for these three women. Judge Baker said that if the women went without Planned Parenthood’s services, they would “incur irreparable harm.”
The public does not have a serious interest in the services that Planned Parenthood provides. There are many, many health clinics that provide the exact same services and more. It does not harm Medicaid patients to seek medical care at places other than Planned Parenthood, any more than it harms Medicaid patients to have to use only the providers listed as part of Medicaid services.
States should have the right to decide where tax payer money is being spent without the interference of the federal government. Yet, beyond that, the federal government clearly should not have the power to force states to fund any businesses engaging in illegal practices. The duty of a judge is to stop criminal activity not fund it.
So what can be done? Don’t put up with it. Speak out against these judges. Speak out against abortion. Go to the rallies. Write to your Senators and Representatives. Write to your Governors. Do everything you can to stop the killing and mutilation of the millions of unborn babies Planned Parenthood slaughters every year. Do not be the person standing outside Auschwitz looking at the dead bodies and asking whether or not a crime has been committed.