Planned Parenthood Funding Cuts Blocked by Indiana Appeals Court; What Are Obama and Romney's Stance?

A federal appeals court Tuesday ruled that the state of Indiana cannot cut funding for Planned Parenthood because the organization facilitates abortions.

The 7^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago upheld a lower court's petition that said Indiana is not allowed to enforce a state law barring abortion providers from collecting Medicaid funds for medical services.

Republican Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels signed the law banning funding in May 2011, but U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt in Indianapolis put the measure on hold last June.

As Reuters reported, the appeals court this week found that Indiana had broad authority to exclude unqualified providers from its Medicaid program for the poor, but that state could not deny funding to providers for an unrelated reason, such as Planned Parenthood performing abortions.

Doing so, they said, would deprive Medicaid recipients of their legal right to obtain care from their choice of qualified providers.

"Indiana maintains that any harm to Planned Parenthood's Medicaid patients is superficial because they have many other qualified Medicaid providers to choose from," Circuit Judge Diane Sykes wrote for a three-judge panel, as Reuters reported. "This argument misses the mark."

Ken Falk, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, which handled Planned Parenthood's appeal, called the ruling "a total victory."

"It is significant because, around the country, there are hundreds of thousands of people who get services through Planned Parenthood that are reimbursed by Medicaid," he told Reuters. "To allow those services to be denied solely because a state does not like other things that Planned Parenthood does can cause serious harm to people who depend on it for basic medical needs."

The ruling is the latest setback in conservative efforts in several states to cut off funding for abortion providers, the Associated Press reported, with judges striking down similar motions in Arizona last week. On Friday, a federal judge blocked Arizona from applying a similar law to Planned Parenthood.

Meanwhile, the push to halt funding for abortion providers has continued out west.

Last week, Texas released new rules for a state women's health program that requires officials to shut down the entire program if a court asks the state to include providers tied to groups like Planned Parenthood. And earlier this month, the Los Angeles Times reported, Oklahoma withdrew federal funding for three Planned Parenthood clinics in Tulsa, although the state's health department officials cited "performance issues" and a "business decision" for the reasoning behind the cuts to the clinics.

The issue of abortion is one of the hot topics that were debated between President Barack Obama and GOP candidate Mitt Romney leading up to the 2012 election Nov. 6. Obama is a pro-choice supporter, while Romney has stated previously that he would sign a bill banning all abortions if it came to his desk as president.