Planned Parenthood asks court to restore funding in Kansas

The group turns to a federal district court as it seeks to have a new Kansas budget provision overturned.

The New York Times: Planned Parenthood Fights Kansas' Move To Cut Off Funds
Planned Parenthood filed a federal lawsuit in Kansas on Monday that said the state budget had violated its free speech and due process rights by preventing it from receiving federal family planning money (Williams, 6/27).

Kansas City Star: Planned Parenthood Sues To Halt Funding Cutoff In Kansas
A new front opened in the Kansas abortion war Monday when Planned Parenthood asked a judge to stop the state from stripping the agency of federal family-planning funds. Already battling to get licensed under a new state law, Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri filed suit in federal court seeking to bar Kansas from redirecting the money to state and local health clinics starting Friday. "It's disappointing that instead of focusing on expanding family planning and sex education programs, we're once again having to spend time responding to politically motivated health care attacks," said Peter Brownlie, local president of Planned Parenthood (Cooper, 6/27). 

The Associated Press/Washington Post: Planned Parenthood Sues Kan. Officials Over Budget Provision Blocking Family Planning Funds
The Planned Parenthood lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan., challenges a budget provision that requires the state's portion of federal family planning dollars go first to public health departments and hospitals. It leaves no money for Planned Parenthood and similar groups. Planned Parenthood expects the provision to cost it about $331,000 (6/27).

The Hill: Planned Parenthood Sues To Stop Kansas Funding Ban
According to the group's brief, Kansas blocked federal money from going to organizations that specialize in family planning without also providing primary and preventive care. The provision would cut off funding to all Planned Parenthood clinics, even those that do not provide abortions, the group says (Baker, 6/27).