Appeal judge rethinks, dissents in Planned Parenthood case
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NEW ORLEANS - A federal appeals court ruling that saved Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood in Louisiana stands, but it's no longer unanimous.
Last September, a three-judge 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel upheld an injunction preventing the state from cutting Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood. The money goes to non-abortion services for low-income women.
The ruling by judges Jacques Wiener, Priscilla Owen and Edward Prado said cutting the money would deny low-income women access to a medical provider - and their right to choose their provider.
The ruling was re-issued Thursday with Owen dissenting. She cited a 1980 Supreme Court ruling denying Medicaid patients' right to challenge Pennsylvania's revocation of funding for a nursing home. The two-member majority said that case doesn't apply to the Louisiana Planned Parenthood case.