SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — State attorneys will try to convince a judge on Thursday that Utah’s decision to block federal money from going to Planned Parenthood is not unconstitutional, and is allowed under contracts with the organization.
A judge ruled late last month that the money should temporarily keep flowing to Planned Parenthood, but that order expires Thursday and the organization wants to see it extended.
The Planned Parenthood Association of Utah sued Gov. Gary Herbert in September, arguing his move to block about $200,000 was unconstitutional and based on unproven allegations that Planned Parenthood officials in other states illegally sold fetal tissue from abortions for medical research.
The allegations came from secretly recorded videos released by a California pro-life group that showed Planned Parenthood officials in Texas and other states describing how they procure the tissue.
Mr. Herbert, a Republican, has said he was offended by the callousness of the discussion.
Planned Parenthood has said it only recouped expenses for providing tissue to researchers, and the videos were heavily edited. The organization announced this week that it will no longer accept any sort of payment to cover the costs of those programs, which it also says only take place in clinics in California and Washington.
In Utah, Mr. Herbert blocked more than $200,000 in federal money that the state passes through to the local Planned Parenthood branch for programs that deal with sexually transmitted disease testing and sex education.
Attorneys for Planned Parenthood in Utah argued in court documents this week that state health officials tried to discourage Mr. Herbert’s office from blocking the money, saying it would leave thousands of people at risk.
The court documents included an email from the deputy director of the Department of Health asking department staff to come up with talking points explaining reasons why Utah shouldn’t block the funds. It was written a week before Mr. Herbert announced the funding would be pulled.
Health department staff said in other emails that ending one Planned Parenthood contract would leave about 4,400 females ages 15 to 24 without chlamydia and gonorrhea testing, and treatment for 3,725 people with those diseases would stop.
After Mr. Herbert announced he was blocking the funds, Robert Rolfs, the deputy director of the health department, said in an email to Mr. Herbert’s chief of staff and legal counsel that he was concerned Utah could not block Planned Parenthood from applying for state contracts.
Mr. Rolfs noted that Utah could be sued for ending contracts and wrote, “We really don’t have good alternatives for some of the services (Planned Parenthood) is providing.”
Utah has decided to keep sending money to Planned Parenthood through the end of 2015. But if a judge rules in favor of the state on Thursday, Utah can cut off the money earlier.
Utah’s move to cut off funding followed similar moves in other states against Planned Parenthood chapters. The organization has also filed lawsuits in Arkansas, Alabama and Louisiana to block those states from stripping Planned Parenthood of contracts and federal money distributed by the states.
In Utah, the federal funding is a small portion of the local organization’s $8 million budget. It also receives money through federal contracts, fees from clients, insurance and contributions.
Congressional efforts to defund Planned Parenthood include a provision to redirect that money to thousands of federally qualified health care centers, which supporters say offer a range of services — but not abortion — to low-income adults and children.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.