The Republican-ruled House seems poised to do everything in its power to defund Planned Parenthood. But on Thursday, a federal judge delayed Texas’ plan to boot the nonprofit from its Medicaid program by setting a temporary injunction.
U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks halted the efforts until Feb. 21 in order to more thoroughly review the case and its documents on the last day of the suit. Sparks’ intervention prevented the cut, which was set to carry out on Saturday.
The reproductive healthcare provider sued the state in order to block its removal from Medicaid, asking the judge for a preliminary injunction. According to Texas’ Health and Human Services Commission, Planned Parenthood received over $4 million in 2015 from state funding.
In a statement Wednesday, Planned Parenthood Executive Director Yvonne Gutierrez expressed her pride in the program, as well as the repercussions of its defunding.
“We are grateful that the court has so far protected the 11,000 men, women and young people who could lose access to birth control, cancer screenings and other primary, preventive care at Planned Parenthood,” Gutierrez stated. “Let’s be clear about what is at stake: we have seen what happens when the state ‘defunds’ Planned Parenthood—people go without care.”
According to Markets Insider, Planned Parenthood has 34 locations in Texas, providing services to more than 120,000 patients, 11,000 of whom use Medicaid. And since November’s election, the demand for IUDs has skyrocketed a staggering 900 percent.
H/T Chron