Planned Parenthood is suing Texas over Medicaid funding cuts

Planned Parenthood affiliates and patients in Texas filed a lawsuit Monday against the state's health agency in a bid to save the organization's state Medicaid funding, The Dallas Morning News reports. In October, the state told the women's health organization's three Texas affiliates that they were cut from Medicaid, a move the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has informed Texas "may be in conflict with the law."

Texas' funding cut came in light of a series of videos released this summer by a pro-life group that questioned Planned Parenthood's fetal tissue donation practices and accusations by former Texas affiliate employees of Medicaid fraud.

Planned Parenthood argues in the suit that the state's cut prevents patients from selecting their own health care providers "without adequate justification."

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Similar defunding decisions affecting Planned Parenthood affiliates in Louisiana, Alabama, and Arkansas have already seen legal challenges, The Hill reports. In Louisiana, a federal judge has ruled the state must continue making Medicaid payments to the organization while the case progresses.