AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – A federal judge deciding whether Texas can oust Planned Parenthood from the state’s Medicaid program says rehashing secretly recorded videos from 2015 amounts to “baloney.”
Texas officials say a Planned Parenthood official’s remarks about fetal tissue research given on videos taken by an anti-abortion group justify cutting off the organization from Medicaid funding.
U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks appeared exasperated Tuesday after a Planned Parenthood researcher testified for an hour about her comments. Sparks scolded attorneys over lingering on the videos and urged them to focus on services offered by Planned Parenthood and the number of clinics impacted.
Planned Parenthood will be removed from Texas’ Medicaid program by Saturday unless Sparks intervenes.
Federal judges have stopped Arkansas and other states from similarly dropping Planned Parenthood in wake of the videos.