Judge blocks Arkansas from ending Medicaid payments to Planned Parenthood

Judge Kristine Baker this afternoon issued a temporary restraining order that prevents the state of Arkansas from stopping Medicaid reimbursements for people who receive services from Planned Parenthood of the Heartland clinics in Little Rock and Fayetteville.

The order will be in place for two weeks while the judge considers arguments to make the order permanent.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson ordered the end of Medicaid to Planned Parenthood — about $50,000 last year — on account of publicity about misleadingly edited and dishonestly obtained videos by an anti-abortion group that attempted to make the case that Planned Parenthood affiliates in a couple of other states had illegally sold fetal tissue to medical research. No proof of that charge has emerged. Planned Parenthood says it legally provides such tissue at two facilities (not in Arkansas) in return for small reimbursements for the cost.

Hutchinson's order took effect Sept. 14, but no patient was affected because no Medicaid patients were scheduled to be seen until Sept. 21. Planned Parenthood sued to overturn the orders, as has been done against similar orders in other states. It contends it's being punished for actions of others; that its operations in Arkansas have caused no ethical or medical concerns, and that patients couldn't easily get the same services at one place elsewhere. Aslo, they prefer Planned Parenthood.

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