LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Planned Parenthood is asking a federal judge to again halt Arkansas’ decision to cut off Medicaid funding to the organization, months after an appeals panel said the defunding move could go forward.
Planned Parenthood Great Plains asked U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker to issue a new injunction temporarily preventing Arkansas from terminating its provider agreement with the group. The state in November terminated the group’s status as a Medicaid provider after a federal appeals court vacated an earlier ruling from Baker halting the defunding.
Planned Parenthood asked on Friday for an injunction on new grounds: that the defunding move violates the constitutional rights of Planned Parenthood and its Medicaid patients.
Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson ended the state’s Medicaid contract with the group in 2015.
