Injunction granted in favor of Planned Parenthood

Planned Parenthood of Indiana emerged victorious in a preliminary legal battle over HEA 1210, a bill that defunded Planned Parenthood and established increased regulations on abortions in Indiana.

Judge Tanya Walton Pratt of the Southern District Court of Indiana ruled that state agencies must provide Planned Parenthood with Medicaid funding while she considers whether or not to completely overturn the portion of the law dealing with Planned Parenthood. 

“HEA 1210 will exact a devastating financial toll on PPIN and hinder its ability to continue serving patients’ general health needs,” Pratt said in her decision.

HEA 1210 has already harmed Planned Parenthood in “tangible ways,“ Pratt said.

Notably, the law forced Planned Parenthood to stop accepting Medicaid patients last week, lay off two of the organization’s three sexually transmitted disease specialists and require clinic employees to take one day of unpaid leave.

Planned Parenthood also said if the law was not overturned, it would likely have to close as many as seven of its clinics statewide and lay off 37 employees.

Pratt said these were examples of the “tangible” harm HEA 1210 causes the organization and used these reasons to justify granting the injunction against HEA 1210 being enforced.

Planned Parenthood said in a statement it was “relieved” Judge Pratt “has granted its motion for a preliminary injunction to halt the enforcement” of HEA 1210.

The 9,300 Medicaid patients to whom Planned Parenthood denied service starting last week will now be able to receive care at Planned Parenthood clinics, at least until Judge Pratt makes her final decision about whether to overturn parts of HEA 1210.

Pratt based a large part of her decision to grant the injunction on the fact that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services denied the state of Indiana’s request to alter its Medicaid plan with the federal government to be in line with HEA 1210.

The lawyers for the state argued that the HHS decision should not be given deference in the case.

Pratt disagreed and said, “to use a sports metaphor, just because the final buzzer has not yet sounded does not mean the court must avert its eyes from
the scoreboard.”

Pratt agreed with Planned Parenthood that the court should defer to the federal government on this issue.

Pratt also argued that the temporary injunction served the public interest because the federal government has threatened the total or partial withholding of Indiana’s nearly $5 billion of federal Medicaid funds.

“Indiana’s most vulnerable citizens could end up paying the price as the collateral damage of a partisan battle,” Pratt said.

Planned Parenthood also argued that other portions of the bill would require its employees to provide factually inaccurate information that is not supported by the scientific community.

Pratt granted a preliminary injunction against the portion of HEA 1210 that requires physicians performing abortions to inform their patients that fetuses can feel pain at 20 weeks or less.

“The Court has been given no evidence to support the finding that within the scientific community even a minority view exists that contends pain perception is possible during the first trimester of pregnancy — the time during which PPIN exclusively performs its abortion services,” Pratt said.

She ruled that requiring physicians to tell their patients that a fetus can feel pain could be “false, misleading and irrelevant.”

However, Pratt did not agree with Planned Parenthood’s argument that requiring physicians to tell patients seeking an abortion that “human physical life begins at conception” — another requirement created by HEA 1210 — is misleading or inaccurate.

Pratt said the statement about human physical life provides relevant information to patients and does not mislead or misinform them.

Gov. Mitch Daniels’ office sent an email to the press after the ruling which stated he would not comment on the decision.

Both sides will now argue whether or not the court should completely overturn the portion of HEA 1210 that defunds Planned Parenthood and requires physicians to tell their patients fetuses can feel pain at 20 weeks or earlier.

— Zach Ammerman