Federal appeals court lifts order blocking Texas from kicking Planned Parenthood out of MedicaidTexas moved to exclude Planned Parenthood from Medicaid years ago after a highly-edited video from an anti-abortion group suggested abortion providers sold fetal tissue.by Emma Platoff Jan. 17, 2019 1 hour ago A federal appeals court has lifted a lower court order that blocked Texas from booting Planned Parenthood out of Medicaid, potentially imperiling the health care provider’s participation in the federal-state health insurance program.
A three-judge panel on the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that Sam Sparks, the federal district judge who preserved Planned Parenthood’s status in the program in February 2017, had used the wrong standard in his ruling. The appeals court sent the case back to him for further consideration.
The case stems from a long-running flap over a misleading video released in late 2015 by the anti-abortion group Center for Medical Progress, which suggested that abortion providers at Planned Parenthood sold fetal tissue for profit. The sting video included edited clips of Planned Parenthood officials discussing the use of fetal tissue for research. A string of investigations that followed the video’s release were unable to confirm its claims, but it energized a crusade against the health care provider and sparked outrage from the state’s Republican leadership.
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https://www.texastribune.org/2019/01/17/federal-appeals-court-/