Bentley not backing down in court battle to strip Planned Parenthood's Alabama funding

Gov. Robert Bentley testifies before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to highlight Alabama’s prison reform efforts. (Photo: Bentley Admin.)

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Planned Parenthood on Tuesday asked a federal judge to intervene and stop Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley from terminating the controversial abortion provider’s Medicaid contract with the state.

Last month, Bentley ended the contract with Planned Parenthood after undercover videos exposed the organization’s apparent harvesting and sale of aborted baby organs and body parts, although no state dollars went to fund abortions.

“The deplorable practices at Planned Parenthood have been exposed to Americans, and I have decided to stop any association with the organization in Alabama,” Bentley said at the time. “As a doctor and Alabama’s Governor, the issue of human life, from conception to birth and beyond, is extremely important to me. I respect human life, and I do not want Alabama to be associated with an organization that does not.”

In court this week, Planned Parenthood attorney Melissa Cohen called the videos’ accusations “patently false.”

“It misrepresents practices in unrelated Planned Parenthood affiliates in other states and does not relate in any way to Planned Parenthood Southeast,” she explained.

Cohen went on to tell U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson that the Bentley administration does not, in Planned Parenthood’s view, have a legitimate reason to terminate their Medicaid contract.

The Bentley Administration says their reasoning is simple: “concerns about the harvesting and sale of fetal tissue.”

Judge Thompson did not issue a ruling Tuesday, but suggested it may be necessary for the state to give further explanation.

The Bentley Administration signaled their plans to hold firm, and touted the governor’s “unique perspective” on the matter, because he is a medically licensed doctor.

“Today’s court hearing was another step in the process to defend my position,” Bentley said.

Planned Parenthood’s court battle with Alabama comes as the organization is facing intense scrutiny in Washington, D.C.

Planned Parenthood currently receives more than $500 million annually in federal funding, mostly through Medicaid reimbursements. But many conservatives in Washington are pushing to strip the taxpayer funding the organization receives directly from the federal government. President Obama has vowed to veto any such attempts, teeing up a standoff and potential government shutdown.

Senate Republican leadership has said they will not take drastic measures to defund the organization, fearing the blame for a shutdown would fall on them.

“I suggest that is a ludicrous position, one that goes beyond any rationality,” Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) said of his GOP colleagues’ concerns.

“I don’t believe the president has a moral authority or the political clout to tell the American people that the Congress shut down the government when he vetoed a bill that would fund the government. It’s time for this Congress to do its duty and we should fund programs that need funding and don’t fund programs that don’t need funding.”