Appeals panel weighs Arkansas Planned Parenthood case

LITTLE ROCK—A federal appeals panel is considering whether to uphold or strike down a judge's decision to temporarily block Arkansas from cutting off Medicaid payments for three Planned Parenthood patients.

Attorneys for the state and Planned Parenthood appeared Wednesday before a three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals over the preliminary injunction preventing the defunding move for the patients. U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker issued the injunction last year, and Planned Parenthood has asked her to expand the order to any current or future patients.

Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson ended the state's Medicaid contract last year because of videos secretly recorded by an anti-abortion group. The state has said Planned Parenthood received $51,000 in Medicaid funds during the past fiscal year. None of the money paid for abortions.

http://www.texarkanagazette.com/news/arkansas/story/2016/sep/22/appeals-panel-weighs-arkansas-planned-parenthood-case/641413/