Onward Texas Staff
Texas is seeking to shut Planned Parenthood down, even after it stopped performing abortions.
Last year, Texas filed a federal lawsuit against Planned Parenthood. It alleges that the organization improperly billed Medicaid for $10 million in payments during the period when the state was trying to remove the organization from the program, reports the Texas Tribune.
The state is seeking more than $1.8 billion in reimbursement.
The estimated payment would probably bankrupt all Texas’ three Planned Parenthood affiliates.
The lawsuit was filed in 2022 by Ken Paxton before he was impeached this year. The lawsuit plans to ask Planned Parenthood to pay an additional two times the initial $10 million in payments value, plus civil penalties as well expenses, costs and attorney fees.
U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmary, a conservative judge, will hear arguments from both sides this Tuesday in Amarillo.
Kacsmaryk has previously worked on anti-abortion cases as a religious lawyer, and is a favorite among conservative litigants. He first worked for First Liberty Institute, a conservative religious liberty firm. In April, he suspended approval of mifepristone, a drug used in abortion; the Supreme Court put the ruling on hold temporarily.
Planned Parenthood has called this lawsuit meritless and has asked judge Kacsmaryk to dismiss it.
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