Planned Parenthood should separate its abortion clinics from its other health services, said Indiana officials in an effort to end a legal standoff related to state funding.
Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels signed a law in May prohibiting any state Medicaid funding from going to Planned Parenthood, even for non-abortion services such as cancer screenings and birth control. He argued federal law prohibits Medicaid from covering abortions, which Planned Parenthood combines with funding for other services.
In June, the organization's Indiana branch won an injuction to keep the law from being enforced while it's being debated in the courts. Planned Parenthood officials told The Associated Press that they see the effort to split the services as a plot by anti-abortion activists to undermine the organization completely.
"They want to put providers of safe abortion care out of business, and they will do so however they can," Ken Lembrecht, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of North Texas, told the AP.
Both arguments will be heard Thursday in the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago. The state's attorneys filed a brief in June suggesting the splitting of Planned Parenthood's services, similar to a move made in Texas in 2005. But Planned Parenthood is hesitant based on that state's outcome.
Roger Evans, senior director for public policy for the national organization, said Texas legislators later voted to defund any provider even affiliated with abortion.
"They're looking for ... every little tactic they can use," Evans told the AP.
