Planned Parenthood is headed back to court later this month over a 2011 law that excludes the group from being listed and funded by the state-run Texas Women’s Health Program.
In 2011 lawmakers at the state capitol along with Gov. Rick Perry set in place the laws that created the state-run Texas Women’s Health Program, which excluded groups like Planned Parenthood from being listed as a provider of women’s health because of their connection to abortion.
"So so the question is: Can a state health department sort of pick and choose which healthcare providers women go to or are we all able to provide these services if we are eligible too?" said Sarah Wheat from Planned Parenthood: Texas Capital Region.
Wheat said the court will have to decide if the state had the authority to single out one group, Planned Parenthood, from the Texas Women’s Health Program, a program that Wheat said is not performing as well as Republican lawmakers had hoped.
"It’s such vitally needed program, we would like to see it succeed. It’s just unclear how it’s going to be successful without the single-biggest provider of those services, which is Planned Parenthood," Wheat said.
Wheat said the 2011 decision was a huge setback to their organization, and in some cases it closed Planned Parenthood clinics in smaller Texas cities.
