The Quickie: Trial Date Announced in Meritless False Claims Act Case Against PPFA, Texas Planned Parenthood Affiliates

Welcome to “The Quickie” — Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s daily tipsheet on the top health care & reproductive rights stories of the day. You can read “The Quickie'' online here.

In today’s Quickie: Trial date set for baseless False Claims Act case, one billionaire funding anti-abortion candidates across states, Georgia’s supreme court upholds 6 week ban, and abortions are still needed despite bans.

TRIAL DATE ANNOUNCED IN MERITLESS FALSE CLAIMS ACT CASE AGAINST PPFA, TEXAS PLANNED PARENTHOOD AFFILIATES: Late yesterday, U.S. district court judge Matthew Kasmaryck ordered a trial in a politically motivated False Claims Act case brought against the Planned Parenthood affiliates in Texas — Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas, Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, and Planned Parenthood South Texas — and Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA). 

The case is set to go to trial in April 2024 in Amarillo. In addition to a public order setting a trial date, the judge issued non-public orders, an unusual move for a case like this.

To be clear: Planned Parenthood followed the law.  The courts had explicitly ruled earlier that Planned Parenthood could provide care for Medicaid patients and get reimbursed for that care during this time.

Statement from Susan Manning, General Counsel, Planned Parenthood Federation of America:

“This is a baseless case. The Texas Planned Parenthood affiliates did not commit Medicaid fraud and followed the law, period. Planned Parenthood organizations are nonprofit organizations that provide quality, life-saving health care to their patients. 

“The plaintiffs’ only goal in this case is to achieve their decades-long goal of shutting down Planned Parenthood to advance a political agenda. We will never back down, and we look forward to winning this case at trial.”

Read more about the case here and here.

 

BILLIONAIRE FUNDING ANTI-ABORTION CANDIDATES: Yesterday, Rolling Stone’s Tessa Stuart reported on GOP megadonor Jeff Yass’ donations to anti-abortion candidates in Virginia, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania. All three states have pivotal elections this November with consequential implications for abortion rights: 

Jamie Lockhart, executive director of Virginia League for Planned Parenthood, explained that “Governor Youngkin has made clear that he will sign any piece of anti abortion legislation that makes it to his desk,” and “20 percent of patients now come from outside of the commonwealth, compared to about three percent prior to Dobbs.” The election results in Virginia will determine if Gov. Youngkin will get to sign said legislation. 

In regards to a highly contested state supreme court case in Pennsylvania, Breana Ross, campaign director at Planned Parenthood Votes, told Rolling Stone that “Republican leaders in Pennsylvania over the years have shown their cards, and we want to make sure that we’re able to have a champion on that front.” The court will soon decide on Allegheny Reproductive Health Center v. Pa. Department of Human Services, which could require the state to cover abortion through Medicaid — and also explicitly affirm the right to reproductive autonomy as part of the Pennsylvania constitution.

Tamarra Wieder, state director of Planned Parenthood for Kentucky, told Rolling Stone that there is a day-and-night difference between Cameron, staunchly anti-abortion, and the Democratic incumbent Andy Beshear, a supporter of reproductive rights. “We’ve doubled abortion providers under Beshear, and we know that we will have secretaries that follow science and best practices of medical providers,” Wielder added. 

Read more at Rolling Stone here. 

 

GEORGIA SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS SIX-WEEK BAN AS LEGAL BATTLE CONTINUES: Today, the Georgia Supreme Court issued a ruling that allows the state’s six-week ban to remain in effect. The case will now return to the trial court, which has not yet ruled on the remaining claims brought by the plaintiffs — a coalition of physicians, reproductive health centers, and reproductive justice advocates — that the ban violates Georgians’ rights to privacy and equal protection under the state Constitution. The ban has been in effect since November 2022 when the Georgia Supreme Court stayed a trial court order which found the law unenforceable since it was blatantly unconstitutional when enacted in 2019 against the backdrop of Roe v. Wade. Carol McDonald, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Southeast Advocates, reacted to today’s ruling saying.

“Planned Parenthood Southeast’s health centers remain open, and we will continue to provide abortion care in Georgia under the severe restrictions of this law — but we know that’s not enough…. At the ballot box in 2024 and beyond, Planned Parenthood Southeast Advocates intends to make sure that Gov. Kemp, AG Carr and their anti-abortion allies in the legislature answer for the public health crisis they’ve created across our state, which has forced so many to remain pregnant against their will or flee their communities for basic health care. We and our partners will keep fighting for Georgians’ ability to control their own bodies, lives, and futures — no matter what.”

Read more in WABE.
 

BANNING ABORTION DOESN’T STOP PEOPLE FROM NEEDING ABORTIONS: With new data from Guttmacher and #WeCount, The New York Times reflects on why abortions didn’t dramatically decline in the year since the overturning of Roe despite state bans. While states with total or near-total bans saw the number of abortions dwindle to practically zero, states with higher levels of access saw their numbers remain steady and even rise. 

While these numbers show that people continue to access care, we cannot ignore that many are being forced to seek care outside of the medical system or to carry a pregnancy against their will. This way of acquiring abortion care — through telemedicine or through contacting a patient navigator — is not sustainable for the long term. This is still a health care crisis. Danika Severino Wynn, vice president for care and access at Planned Parenthood Federation of America, feels like the system is being held together with Band-Aids: 

“Folks came together and did the best they could to make sure they could see as many patients as possible. … I don’t feel confident that we’re in a space where we can say, ‘Oh, we subverted a crisis.’”

Read more in The New York Times.