A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that Utah can cut off federal funds to the state’s Planned Parenthood organization, a move the Republican governor ordered after the release of secretly recorded videos by an anti-abortion group.



The ruling from US district judge Clark Waddoups reversed an earlier decision temporarily ordering the money to keep flowing to the Planned Parenthood Association of Utah.

His ruling allows Utah to cut off funds to Planned Parenthood while the organization still pursues its lawsuit against the state.

Like Utah, other states have moved to cut funding to Planned Parenthood chapters. The organization has filed lawsuits in Arkansas, Alabama and Louisiana to block them from stripping contracts and federal money distributed by the states.

The Planned Parenthood Association of Utah sued the state in October, arguing that Governor Gary Herbert’s move to block the money violated its first amendment right to advocate for or perform abortions.

Herbert stopped about $275,000 in federal funds after the release of the undercover videos by a California anti-abortion group. The activists claim the videos show Planned Parenthood officials in Texas and other states discussing the sale of fetal tissue from abortions.

Planned Parenthood in Utah argued Herbert was acting in response to unproven allegations that the officials illegally sold fetal tissue from abortions for medical research.

On Tuesday, Herbert said he appreciated the federal judge’s ruling. The Republican said that the ruling recognizes the governor’s power to make contract decisions on Utah’s behalf.

Even though the Utah group has not engaged in wrongdoing, it is affiliated with other Planned Parenthood entities “that have allegedly engaged in illegal conduct”, Waddoups said in his ruling.

The judge said Utah’s government has an interest “in avoiding the appearance of corruption”, and any harm from ending the contracts is outweighed by the risk to the state if it is denied its right to end contracts at will.

Allowing the contracts to continue, Waddoups said, could reasonably be perceived by Utah citizens as approval of wrongful conduct.

Karrie Galloway, CEO of the Planned Parenthood Association of Utah, called the judge’s ruling “regrettable” and said the organization is working to figure out its next steps. She said in a statement that Planned Parenthood will keep pursuing the lawsuit against the state.

Messages seeking comment on Tuesday from Herbert’s office and the state attorney general’s office were not immediately returned.

Herbert has said he was offended by the callousness of the discussion shown on the videos.

Planned Parenthood has said it only recouped expenses for providing tissue to researchers and that the videos were heavily edited. The organization later said it would no longer accept any sort of payment to cover the costs of those programs, which it says only take place in California and Washington.

In Utah, Herbert blocked federal money that the state passes through to the local Planned Parenthood branch for programs that deal with sexually transmitted disease testing and sex education.

Attorneys for Planned Parenthood in Utah argued that stopping the money for STD programs would leave thousands of people at risk.

Utah’s move to cut off funding followed similar moves in other states against Planned Parenthood chapters. In most other states, judges have granted temporary orders in favor of Planned Parenthood.

In Utah, the federal funding is a small portion of the local organization’s $8m budget. It also receives money through federal contracts, fees from clients, insurance and contributions.