Federal appeals court sides with Texas, Louisiana efforts to cut Planned Parenthood’s Medicaid funding

Texas and Louisiana can cut Planned Parenthood from their Medicaid programs, a federal appeals court ruled Monday evening, a win for abortion opponents who have long sought to cut off federal and state funding to the organization.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Texas and Louisiana state officials Monday in a 11-5 ruling reversing lower court decisions blocking the changes from taking effect.

State officials argued they should be able to remove “unqualified” providers from Medicaid, the federal and state health insurance program for the poor.

The majority of judges wrote that the women who sued Texas officials to challenge the ban, who were represented by Planned Parenthood, had no right to challenge the state’s determination that the organization is “unqualified” and therefore can’t participate in Medicaid.

Why it matters: It’s a major blow for Planned Parenthood, which recently left a separate federal family planning grant program after new restrictions were imposed by the Trump administration.