Using taxpayer dollars to pay for elective abortions is already illegal; no one is ever able to use Medicaid to obtain one. The only purpose of the new funding restrictions, as the lawsuit states, is “to punish, harass, and stigmatize the state’s abortion providers for their and their patients’ exercise of constitutional rights.” In the suit, Planned Parenthood accuses Florida of violating federal and state guarantees of due process, privacy, and equal protection by singling out abortion providers without any justification other than the state legislature’s objection to a constitutionally secured medical procedure. The suit also takes issue with the new law’s bizarre requirement that the state inspect thousands of private medical records at facilities that provide abortions, giving the Florida government access to specific details of patients’ medical histories, including their HIV status, abortion history, and mental health treatments.
Planned Parenthood Sues Florida for Banning Medicaid Patients From Getting Care at Its Clinics