A demand for 1.8 billion dollars filed by an anonymous activist and the state of Texas (United States) seeks to recover money that, according to them, Planned Parenthood illegally took from Medicaid.
The Fifth Circuit Court of the United States heard the arguments this Thursday, September 25 in the case Doe v. Planned Parenthood.
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When it was discovered that Planned Parenthood sold tissue and fetal organs, Louisiana and Texas quickly acted to revoke the eligibility of the Organization for Medicaid. Judicial orders delayed revocation.
While the courts discussed the eligibility of Planned Parenthood, the group continued to submit reimbursement to Medicaid despite the uncertain status until 2020, when the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals failed in favor of the States.
In a lawsuit filed in 2021, a complainant demanded Planned Parenthood under the Law of False Claims. Designed to protect the money from taxpayers of fraudulent actors, the Law of False Claims requires that “any person who knows present, or induces to present, false claims to the Government will be responsible for three times the compensation for damages of the government, plus a fine linked to inflation”, according to the website of the United States Department of Justice.
The Legal Provide and Expert Leader Jennie Bradley Lichter He described the case as an “existential threat” for Planned Parenthood in an opinion article in The Hill.
Lichter, president of the March for Life Education and Defense Fund, wrote that “under the law of false claims, the money obtained from the government while it is inelegable – even if it was charged under a court order that is then revoked – must be returned entirely.”
Susan Baker Manning, General Advisor of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, denied that legal theory has some merit.
“This theory is another attempt to use the law as a weapon to attack Planned Parenthood,” said Manning in a communication on Wednesday. “This case has an objective: close Planned Parenthood and deny patients access to sexual and reproductive health care.”
Katie Glenn Daniel, Director of Legal Affairs of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said Planned Parenthood “had no right to the money of taxpayers.
“The complainant in this case, DOE, is demanding on behalf of the people to recover dollars from the taxpayers that Planned Parenthood had no right to take and that has not yet voluntarily returned, in addition to fees and interests,” Glenn Daniel told CNA, an English agency of Ewtn News.
“The largest abortion company in the nation felt so entitled to the money of the taxpayers, which spent years invoicing Medicaid after being disqualified by Texas and Louisian They showed their role in the sale of babies body parts”Said Glenn Daniel.
As part of a recently approved fiscal package, the Federal Government cut the financing of Planned Parenthood. More than 40 venues They will close This year. The New York Times reported on alleged Medical negligence in Planned Parenthood Headquarters based in New York earlier this year.
“Despite medical negligence reports, the decrease in real health services and record political expenditure, Planned Parenthood demands that the taxpayers continue to flow forever,” said Glenn Daniel.
Translated and adapted by the ACI Press team. Originally published in CNA.
Kate Quiñones
Kate Quiñones is a Catholic News Agency and Member of College Fix. It has publications on the Wall Street Journal, the Denver Catholic Register and Catholicvote. He graduated from Hillsdale College. Live in Colorado with her husband.