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 Louisiana was the first of three Southern states to announce plans
to end its contract with the reproductive health organization to
provide medical services to low-income residents. Alabama and
Arkansas have taken similar steps.
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, who is seeking the Republican
presidential nomination, cited the release of videos this summer by
a national anti-abortion group, the Center for Medical Progress.
The center says the videos show Planned Parenthood sells tissue of
aborted fetuses but the organization denies wrongdoing and says it
does not profit from fetal tissue donation, noting it is allowed to
charge costs to cover its expenses.
 Planned Parenthood is being investigated in the
Republican-controlled U.S. Congress, where some conservatives want
to cut off its federal funding. The organization says abortions make
up just 3 percent of its work at the hundreds of healthcare centers
it runs nationwide.
It does not provide abortions in Louisiana, court records show. The
defunding effort there targets other health services that it
provides to more than 5,200 low-income patients at clinics in New
Orleans and Baton Rouge, the organization said.
Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, the regional affiliate, received
$730,000 last year for Louisiana patients covered by Medicaid, a
federal and state healthcare program for the poor.
The lawsuit, whose plaintiffs include three women identified as
"Jane Doe," said the state appears to be violating federal law "as
part and parcel of Governor Jindal’s campaign against abortion and
to punish abortion providers."
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U.S. health officials also have warned Louisiana that terminating
the Medicaid contracts may illegally restrict beneficiary access to
services.
"We are fighting these efforts as best we can to preserve access by
our patients to care," Carrie Flaxman, a senior staff attorney for
Planned Parenthood Federation of America, told reporters.
The organization is evaluating legal options in other states.
Planned Parenthood is asking for a court injunction to stop
Louisiana's termination of its provider contract on Sept. 2. The
state intends to fight its lawsuit.
"Planned Parenthood is flailing," Jindal spokesman Mike Reed said in
a statement. "This lawsuit is without merit and the state will
aggressively defend our right to cancel the contract."
(Reporting by Letitia Stein; Editing by Bill Trott)
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