Key Takeaways:
– Two major legal cases aimed at financially crippling Planned Parenthood are progressing in the courts.
– The supremacy of Medicaid patients’ right to choose their preferred health service provider is at the heart of one case.
– The second case accuses Planned Parenthood of fraudulent billing practices under the False Claims Act.
– Anti-abortion activist David Daleiden, known for misleading secret recordings, is revealed to be the anonymous plaintiff in the second lawsuit.
Reckoning Arrives for Planned Parenthood
For years, Republicans and fervent right-wing activists have sought to cut off federal aid to Planned Parenthood. They took issue with the fact that, besides being a leading provider of STD treatment, cancer screenings, and contraception, Planned Parenthood is also a major abortion services provider. Current plans show legislative measures might not be their only route.
Legal Battles Begin
There are ongoing legal challenges that could throw a wrench in Planned Parenthood’s operations. Two lawsuits are making their way through courts, aiming to financially devastate the organization, forcing it to close down without any federal interference.
Battle One: SC vs. Planned Parenthood
The lead case, Kerr vs. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, is already slated for Supreme Court proceedings. At its core, it involves Medicaid patients’ rights to choose a qualified service provider that accepts their insurance.
In 2018, South Carolina’s Governor Henry McMaster issued an executive order. The directive was for the state’s health department to regard abortion clinics as unqualified providers because they also facilitate abortions.
This obviously didn’t sit well with Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, leading them to sue on behalf of a Medicaid patient. If South Carolina secures a win, the impact will be massive. At the federal level, Medicaid will still cover Planned Parenthood, but the patients’ ability to sue when states infrally infringe on this will disappear.
Battle Two: Anonymous vs. Planned Parenthood
A second lawsuit, planned to go to trial in Texas later this year, involves a unique legal angle. It’s aiming to make Planned Parenthood shell out an enormous $2 billion under the False Claims Act.
The case comes with an intriguing twist – the anonymous plaintiff, Alex Doe, has now been revealed as David Daleiden. He’s a known anti-abortion activist, who around 2015 used concealed cameras to falsely portray Planned Parenthood employees selling fetal remains illegally. Notably, a grand jury cleared Planned Parenthood of these allegations, but instead indicted Daleiden for tampering with government records.
The Underlying Resistance
While these lawsuits openly target Planned Parenthood’s ability to provide abortion services, their resistance runs deeper. Evidence suggests they are also challenging other crucial services Planned Parenthood offers like HIV testing, intrauterine devices, and estrogen therapy.
In the end, these legal battles that Planned Parenthood now faces could be seen as more than just issues of abortion service provision. They are battles over personal autonomy, over individual rights to choose what health services to receive and from where.
These imminent threats to Planned Parenthood only demonstrate the importance of organizations like it – organizations dedicated to preserving and protecting reproductive health rights and services. It’s a stark reminder that they must keep fighting, not just for their survival, but for the rights of individuals nationwide.