INDIANAPOLIS – Just hours after Gov. Mitch Daniels signed a controversial law Tuesday stripping Planned Parenthood of funding, lawyers from both sides headed to a federal courtroom to fight over its constitutionality.
U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Walton Pratt heard about 30 minutes of arguments after she dismissed a separate jury trial. She is expected to issue a temporary ruling today.
House Enrolled Act 1210 prohibits state or federal funding from going to entities that provide abortions.
“This is obviously irreparable and certain harm, and the harm is now,” said Ken Falk, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana – acting on behalf of Planned Parenthood of Indiana.
Falk sought a temporary restraining order blocking the law, which became effective the moment Daniels signed it.
Falk argued Planned Parenthood will lose about $1.5 million in Medicaid family planning money.
And starting this morning, Falk said Planned Parenthood can no longer provide Medicaid-covered services to its patients, such as cancer screenings, birth control and sexually transmitted disease testing.
The organization is already prohibited from using federal money for abortions at its facilities.
In general, Falk argued the state law violates a federal law giving citizens the right to choose from any provider of family planning services.
And he said the state doesn’t have the right to unilaterally cancel contracts.
He said the state is not hurt by remaining under a status quo system while the case is fully litigated, but “the public interest is not going to be served by turning these people away in the morning.”
Thomas Fisher, solicitor general in the state Attorney General’s Office, argued there is no immediate harm under the law because Planned Parenthood is free to continue providing the services and bill up to a year later for payment if its lawsuit is ultimately successful.
And he said it’s not against federal law to disqualify a provider – just as an organization that commits fraud or is unsanitary can be removed.
“In our view, this is merely adding to the qualifications of who can be a proper Medicaid services provider,” Fisher said.
He also noted Planned Parenthood could legally carve out its non-abortion services so the federal money is not affected.
Pratt asked why the legislature put an emergency effective date on the bill, to which Fisher responded, “This was so important to them. They wanted to keep the state from going forward with indirect subsidizing of abortion with Medicaid funds.”
Betty Cockrum, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Indiana, said her clinics around the state will continue seeing Medicaid patients this morning until the court rules.
It is unclear what will happen if the judge does not issue an injunction.
“I hate to call it an emergency, but if the legislative intent to fully defund Planned Parenthood of Indiana across the state is met, then there are 22,000 low-income Hoosiers who lose their pap tests, who lose their STD testing and treatment, who lose their birth control.
“It’s a very bad direction.”
