(AP) – The state of Arkansas has formally appealed a federal
judge’s order preventing the state from blocking Medicaid funds to Planned
Parenthood over videos secretly recorded by an anti-abortion group.
The appeal was filed Monday by Attorney General Leslie Rutledge’s office with
the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. It claims U.S. District Judge Kristine
Baker did not follow the proper legal standard when she granted a preliminary
injunction preventing the state from suspending payments to Planned Parenthood
for any services to Medicaid patients in the state.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson last year terminated the state’s Medicaid contract with
Planned Parenthood. Baker ordered the state to continue payments for three
patients who had sued over the move, then expanded it to include anyone who
wants services from its health centers in Arkansas.
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