Just weeks after the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals granted Texas the legal right to eliminate Planned Parenthood health clinics from the state's Medicaid program, the reproductive health care provider is now making an appeal to Governor Abbott. It's asking him and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to grant a grace period until the pandemic is over.
During an online press conference Thursday Planned Parenthood Federation of America CEO Alexis McGill Johnson made the appeal. "For the past five years Governor Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton have been trying to take away high quality healthcare from low-income Texans," said Johnson. "But now as Texas grapples with the twin pandemics of COVID-19 and systemic racism, we are calling on them to at least do the minimum humane thing and give a short grace period for Planned Parenthood to continue providing care."
Johnson says a pandemic is not the time to play politics with health care providers. "While more than 300,000 families mourn loved ones who've died of COVID-19 related causes, terminating Planned Parenthood providers from Medicaid now would mean that governor Abbott is dismantling access to healthcare for those who need it most."
Johnson is asking Governor Abbott to allow Planned Parenthood clinics to remain in the Medicaid program through the pandemic, as a favor to their Medicaid patients. "If governor Abbott chooses to take away patients' rights to choose their provider, at least give them time to find another place to access healthcare," said Johnson.
