Obama administration warns states about cutting Medicaid funds to Planned Parenthood

The Obama administration has sent a blanket warning to all 50 states: cutting Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood could put the state's Medicaid funding at risk.

Ten states have taken action or recently passed legislation to cut off Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood after antiabortion activists released covertly filmed video in the summer purporting to show that the women’s health organization and abortion provider illegally sold fetal tissue for a profit. Planned Parenthood supporters have criticized the videos as deceptively edited, and multiple state investigations have turned up no wrongdoing on the part of the organization.

The 10 states are Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Louisiana, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas and Wisconsin. […]

Federal health officials said the letter from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is being sent to all state Medicaid offices to clarify that terminating certain providers from Medicaid is only justifiable if those providers are unable to perform covered medical services or can't bill for those services. The guidance emphasizes that states cannot target providers for impermissible reasons and are required to treat similar types of providers equitably.

Planned Parenthood does not use federal funding for abortions—it is prevented from doing so by the Hyde Amendment. It also, obviously doesn't profit from selling fetal tissue. What it does do, in communities across the country, is provide critical health care. A study last year by the Guttmacher Institute, requested by the Congressional Budget Office, found that in 103 of the 491 counties where Planned Parenthood clinics are located, it is the only center where low-income patients can receive affordable contraceptive services. In 332 of the counties where it operates, Planned Parenthood serves at least half of the clients who rely on safety net providers. For many of these low-income people—the Medicaid population—Planned Parenthood might be their sole healthcare provider. 

But take a look again at those ten states that are trying to cut off the Planned Parenthood funding. The health and lives of poor people aren't a priority for any of their political leaders.