Indiana's controversial defunding of Planned Parenthood

The state becomes the first to deny Medicaid money for family planning services to any group that offers abortions. Will the new law hold up in court?

Planned Parenthood supporters rally at a protest for the clinic. While many states have tried to strip Planned Parenthood of all federal funding, Indiana is the first state to do so.
(Image credit: David McNew/Getty Images)

A new Indiana law limiting access to abortion has survived its first challenge. The measure cuts off Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood and, theoretically, other abortion providers, although the state's hospitals and walk-in surgical centers are exempted. A federal judge rejected a request from Planned Parenthood for a temporary restraining order to prevent the law from being enforced during the appeal process. The law, signed Tuesday by Gov. Mitch Daniels — a possible Republican presidential candidate — makes Indiana the first state to strip family planning clinics of federal funding. But will a law that singles out Planned Parenthood survive in court?

It shouldn't. It's unconstitutional: This is worse than the typical "backwards pro-life law," says Lauren Bruce at Feministe. The Hyde Amendment already prohibits using Medicaid to pay for abortions. So Indiana is effectively just making it harder for low-income women to get prenatal care, birth control, and other services, simply because Planned Parenthood provides abortions — a very small part of the health services they offer.

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