JURIST - Paper Chase: Kansas appeals order to block law defunding Planned Parenthood

[JURIST] The state of Kansas on Wednesday filed an appeal seeking to overturn a federal judge's ruling [text, PDF] that blocks a Kansas law [HB 2014, PDF; materials] that would prevent Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri (PPKM) [advocacy website] from receiving federal funding. On August 1, a judge for the US District Court for the District of Kansas [official website] issued a temporary injunction [JURIST report] preventing the health centers from losing funding. Judge Thomas Marten ruled the statute barring funding for Planned Parenthood was in direct conflict with federal law and that PPKM demonstrated the requisite elements for injunctive relief, as well as likelihood of success on the merits of its claim. The appeal seeks to suspend the injunction [AP report] until the court rules on the merits of PPKM's case.

Several states have made similar efforts to cut funding for abortion services. This week, the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) [advocacy website] filed [JURIST report] an amicus curiae brief [text, PDF] seeking to uphold an Indiana state law [HEA 1210 text] that would block Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood of Indiana (PPIN) [advocacy website] and other organizations providing abortion services. In July, Planned Parenthood of Central North Carolina (PPCNC) [advocacy website] filed a lawsuit [press release] to block the enforcement [JURIST report] of North Carolina's budget that denies state and federal funds used to subsidize Planned Parenthood family planning services and teen sex education. Kansas currently has multiple suits challenging new abortion restrictions. In July, another judge for the US District Court for the District of Kansas issued a preliminary injunction [JURIST report] in a lawsuit filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights (CCR) [advocacy website], to block another Kansas regulation requiring clinics within the state to obtain a license to perform abortions. Without the injunction, two of Kansas' three abortion clinics would have been forced to close for failure to meet the new requirements for a license. Kansas is also among multiple states that have acted to ban abortions after 20 weeks, when some studies suggest a fetus can begin feeling pain, including Missouri, Indiana, Alabama, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Idaho [JURIST reports].