A federal judge ruled on Monday that Planned Parenthood must stand trial for the $1.8 billion lawsuit brought by Texas that accuses the abortion organization of Medicaid fraud.
Texas alleges that Planned Parenthood took Medicaid funds from the state and then failed to repay those funds after its status as a provider under Medicaid was terminated. Both Texas and Planned Parenthood had said they wanted a ruling from the court without a trial, but U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk decided not to rule on the case but to schedule a trial instead. It will begin in April.
Reuters reported that court documents which have since been sealed show that Kacsmaryk determined that Planned Parenthood should return some of the Medicaid funding to Texas as well as to Louisiana, though the state is not a part of the lawsuit. However, he did not say whether he thought Planned Parenthood had intentionally broken the law or how much it should repay to Texas.
Texas was able to end Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood in 2021 and Louisana was able to do the same in 2022 following the 2015 release of undercover videos from the Center for Medical Progress (CMP). The CMP undercover videos, which Planned Parenthood has admitted were accurate, showed top executives from Planned Parenthood haggling over prices for the sale of body parts from preborn babies its abortionists had killed.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 2019 that based on the videos, which it deemed to be not fraudulent, Texas could defund Planned Parenthood. But Texas said that Planned Parenthood instead defrauded the state by continuing to bill and collect payments from Medicaid programs after the state had decided to terminate their contracts and then failing to repay the funding after courts ruled in the state’s favor.
The trial will determine if Planned Parenthood knowingly committed Medicaid fraud and must repay the state.
