Court: Texas, Louisiana can end Planned Parenthood funding

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal appeals court ruled Monday that Texas and Louisiana can cut off Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood clinics — a move supported by opponents of legal abortion, but opposed by advocates who said it affects a variety of non-abortion health services for low-income women.

The ruling was handed down by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. While it expressly reversed decisions in Texas and Louisiana, it also affects Mississippi, which is under 5th Circuit jurisdiction. The issue is likely to go next to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Opponents of legal abortion have long sought to deny federal Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood clinics.

Abortion rights supporters and advocates for women’s health have argued that the move would reduce access and choice for low-income women seeking cancer screenings, birth control and other non-abortion-related health services — even in states where Planned Parenthood clinics don't perform abortions.

The decision by the full 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans reverses an earlier ruling by a three-judge appellate panel that blocked Texas from enforcing its ban on Medicaid funding of Planned Parenthood. It also expressly reversed a ruling in a separate case blocking Louisiana from banning Planned Parenthood funding. A three-judge panel in 2015 had ruled against the ban and that decision stood when the full court deadlocked 7-7 in 2017, when there were only 14 active judges on the court.

The court's personnel has changed since then. Six nominees of Republican President Donald Trump now sit on the court. Four of them participated in Monday's case (one was recused and another joined the court too late to take part) and all four joined Judge Priscilla Owen's opinion for an 11-member majority.

Owen wrote that the seven women who...