[JURIST] Planned Parenthood [advocacy website] on Friday filed a complaint in the US District Court for the Middle District of Alabama [official website], alleging that Alabama Governor Robert Bentley‘s [official website] termination of Medicaid provider agreements for the facility violates a federal law that requires Medicaid beneficiaries to have a choice in provider for family planning. Bentley announced the termination [AL report] earlier this month, and although it came without explanation, the cuts follow the release of videos this summer by the anti-abortion group the Center for Medical Progress that purport to show Planned Parenthood officials discussing the illegal sale of aborted fetal tissue. Planned Parenthood alleges the videos were composed of deceptive edits and incomplete information. Thus far, multiple state and one federal probe into the procurement of fetal tissue for study have found no wrongdoing on Planned Parenthood’s part.

Abortion related issues have been a heated topic of discussion for the past several years in the US. Earlier this month the Alaska Superior Court struck down [JURIST report] a state law it says would have unfairly burdened low-income individuals by limiting Medicaid funding for abortions. Also in August the US District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee lifted [JURIST report] a temporary restraining order that limited the state in enforcing new abortion laws regarding licensing standards for clinics. In July Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker signed into law [JURIST report] the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, limiting the ability of a woman to seek an abortion more than 20 weeks into her pregnancy. In June the US Supreme Court granted a motion to stay [JURIST report], allowing more than half of Texas’ 18 abortion clinics to stay open by temporarily blocking a law that would place stringent requirements on clinics requiring the majority of them to close. Also in June a Kansas judge for the Shawnee County District Court blocked a law [JURIST report] that would have effectively banned most second-trimester abortions performed in the state.