Opinion

Planned Parenthood cut is about politics Medicaid funds family planning services that help make abortions unnecessary

Timeline: Planned Parenthood versus the Center for Medical Progress



While abortion opponents have had Planned Parenthood in their sights for years, attacks on the organization have been particularly effective following the release of a controversial series of undercover videos in the summer of 2015 produced by an anti-abortion group.



Sources: Washington Post, New York Times, Boston Globe, Politifact, NPR, Harrisburg Patriot-News, Governing.com, Salt Lake City Weekly, Houston Chronicle

less Timeline: Planned Parenthood versus the Center for Medical Progress



While abortion opponents have had Planned Parenthood in their sights for years, attacks on the organization have been particularly effective ... more Photo: Michael Paulsen, Staff Photo: Michael Paulsen, Staff Image 1 of / 24 Caption Close Planned Parenthood cut is about politics 1 / 24 Back to Gallery

When he was attorney general, Greg Abbott liked to say that it was his job to go into the office, sue the federal government, and go home. Now that he's governor, the Abbott administration hasn't strayed too far from that model of legislating by lawsuit.

Monday morning, state health officials released a letter stating that all Planned Parenthood affiliates would be cut from Medicaid funding. However, it won't be that easy. Three other states ­- Alabama, Arkansas and Louisiana - have tried to cut Planned Parenthood out of their state Medicaid programs only to end up in federal court.

This abortion fight, like so many before it, will likely have Texas taxpayers funding an expensive and drawn-out lawsuit. But this isn't about fighting for taxpayers or setting good policy. It is about politics.

The reason behind the Medicaid cut, according to inspector general Stuart Bowen, rests upon a series of surreptitiously recorded videos released by the anti-abortion Center for Medical Progress. Those videos, which were made public this past July and August, purported to show illegal trafficking of fetal tissue. Abbott quickly responded by instructing the Health and Human Services Commission to launch its own investigation into Planned Parenthood.

Investigations in Georgia, Indiana, Massachusetts and South Dakota found no evidence of lawbreaking. The Texas Attorney General's Office has yet to complete its own investigation into those videos, but it isn't hard to guess what they'll find - nothing. That's because Planned Parenthood affiliates in Texas don't currently collect fetal tissue for medical research.

In fact, the last time Planned Parenthood's Texas affiliates collected fetal tissue was in 2010, when it partnered with the University of Texas Medical Branch for a study on miscarriage. So far, there have been no calls to defund the University of Texas.

This whole fight takes aim at an invented fear. And even if the Texas Health and Human Services Commission successfully cut Planned Parenthood from its distribution of federal Medicaid dollars, abortion services will remain at the same funding level of essentially zero. The federal family planning program, Title X, provides no money for abortions. The Hyde Amendment, passed in 1976, prohibits Medicaid from spending money on abortions except in the rare cases of rape, incest and the health of the mother.

What Medicaid does fund is family planning services that help make abortions unnecessary.

But in the war against abortion, fighting Planned Parenthood is easier than actually reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies. So instead of better sex education or broader access to birth control, Texas will get another lawsuit. That won't do much to help everyday Texans, but politicians will be able to count it as a win. If only they could share the spoils of victory with a young woman who can't afford basic health care.