Last Friday, a federal judge issued a temporary injunction that blocks an Arizona law prohibiting federal funding, through Medicaid, for health providers who also perform abortions. The request was granted to Planned Parenthood since the District Court Judge Neil Wake “said the organization was likely to succeed on the merits of its case”. In a statement, Bryan Howard, president and chief executive officer of Planned Parenthood Arizona, responded that “The court’s ruling protects the right of Arizona women to continue to receive important medical care from the medical providers of their own choice, without interference by the state”. In July, Planned Parenthood sued the state of Arizona in an effort to overturn the law that blocked it from receiving government funds. The law was signed by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer in May and is designed to prevent the allocation of public funds to clinics that also provide abortion in the state. The law will effectively cut funding for all health services provided by Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers, impacting the nearly 4,000 women receiving Medicaid-funded health care in the state. Arizona does not currently provide tax dollars for abortion and these funds were all allocated for other health services.
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