Power

Arizona Federal District Court Blocks Efforts to Defund Planned Parenthood

A federal district court in Arizona made it official this week and entered a permanent injunction that blocks a law designed to strip Planned Parenthood clinics in the state of funds by banning Medicaid funding for non-abortion health care provided by doctors and clinics that also perform abortions.

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See our coverage of the Arizona funding battle here.

A federal district court in Arizona made it official this week and entered a permanent injunction that blocks a law designed to strip Planned Parenthood clinics in the state of funds by banning Medicaid funding for non-abortion health care provided by doctors and clinics that also perform abortions. Planned Parenthood Action Fund President Cecile Richards praised the victory in a statement: “Yet another court has said it is unacceptable for politicians to dictate where women can go for their health care, returning to women the ability to choose the health centers they trust for lifesaving cancer screenings, breast health exams, and birth control. Politicians in Arizona and across the country should recognize that they have no business inserting themselves in a woman’s personal health care decisions.”

“This case has never been about Planned Parenthood—it is about the women who rely on Planned Parenthood health centers for quality, affordable preventive care. Eliminating Planned Parenthood as an option among providers only hurts women and families,” she added.

The injunction guarantees that women in the state will continue to have access to lifesaving cancer screenings, birth control, and STI screenings at Planned Parenthood clinics across the state, despite conservative lawmakers’ efforts in the state to cut off that access. It’s an important victory that comes on the heels of a similar victory in Indiana. Meanwhile, fights over Planned Parenthood funding continue in North Carolina, Kansas, and Tennessee.