I want a Lamborghini

[Enough]

Not the mention there have been at least two burned down recently in WA (already ruled arson) and CA (being investigated) if memory serves.

[Enough]

And now Texas is literally raiding Planned Parenthood,

Texas officials raided several Planned Parenthood facilities on Thursday, the group said, in a move that comes days after the state's Republicans leaders barred the women's health group from receiving state Medicaid money.

The raids were carried out at Planned Parenthood health centers in Houston, Dallas and San Antonio by representatives from the Texas Office of the Inspector General.

The Inspector General's office declined to comment. Its agents were seen on local news reports entering a Planned Parenthood facility in San Antonio.

[Isgrimnur]

It's like they want to waste taxpayer money in stupid legal mistakes that they will then defend to the Supreme Court.

[geezer]

And now Texas is literally raiding Planned Parenthood,

Texas officials raided several Planned Parenthood facilities on Thursday, the group said, in a move that comes days after the state's Republicans leaders barred the women's health group from receiving state Medicaid money.

The raids were carried out at Planned Parenthood health centers in Houston, Dallas and San Antonio by representatives from the Texas Office of the Inspector General.

The Inspector General's office declined to comment. Its agents were seen on local news reports entering a Planned Parenthood facility in San Antonio.

I hate living in this state more and more every day.

[hepcat]

Obama wants our guns so he can take over our country!

SO WE'LL TAKE IT OVER FIRST!

[Isgrimnur]

Alabama

A federal judge on Wednesday ordered Alabama to restore Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood, money the state tried to cut off in the wake of undercover videos shot by abortion opponents.

U.S District Judge Myron Thompson issued an order that temporarily bars Alabama from cutting off Medicaid contracts with the group's clinics in Alabama. Planned Parenthood Southeast and a patient filed suit in August, days after Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley announced he was ending the Medicaid agreements with the two clinics.
...
In his 66-page opinion, Thompson said the state did not identify a legal reason to cut off funding to Medicaid and that the action likely violated a requirement of the federal Medicaid Act that prevents states from barring family planning providers for reasons unrelated to quality of care.
...
Lawyers for Alabama argued in court filings that the state was within its rights to end the Medicaid provider contracts, with or without cause. They also argued that the videos raised concerns by the governor that abortion methods might be chosen to obtain the best quality tissue, instead of what it is best for the patient.

Thompson, in rejecting the latter argument, said the two Alabama clinics do not participate in the fetal tissue donation program.
...
Alabama Medicaid Agency records show that the state has paid Planned Parenthood Southeast less than $5,000 over the past two years. The payments were for contraceptives for low-income women. Medicaid does not pay for abortion except under rare circumstances.

[GreenGoo]

Alabama

...
Lawyers for Alabama argued in court filings that the state was within its rights to end the Medicaid provider contracts, with or without cause. They also argued that the videos raised concerns by the governor that abortion methods might be chosen to obtain the best quality tissue, instead of what it is best for the patient.

So investigate, you stupid hack. Don't cut off aid because you "feel" something is true. FUCK YOU.

Thompson, in rejecting the latter argument, said the two Alabama clinics do not participate in the fetal tissue donation program.

So maybe governing by "feels" is not the best way to approach things. Whoda thunk it?
...

Alabama Medicaid Agency records show that the state has paid Planned Parenthood Southeast less than $5,000 over the past two years. The payments were for contraceptives for low-income women. Medicaid does not pay for abortion except under rare circumstances.

And so...lol. All this over 5 freakin' grand, or 2.5k a year that was in no way intended for the patients the governor was so clearly watching out for, because there is almost no way for those patients to receive medicaid in the first place.

Alabama Governor, I think I hate you.

[Isgrimnur]

Who saw this coming? Oh, yeah...

Planned Parenthood’s Texas affiliates on Monday filed a federal lawsuit to keep state health officials from booting them from the state’s Medicaid program.
...
Ten patients joined Planned Parenthood in the lawsuit, according to the organization. Kendra Hudson of Houston, a patient spokeswoman, said a pap smear she got at a Planned Parenthood clinic allowed her to identify an abnormal growth and prevent it from developing into cancer.

"They were the provider that I trusted and felt comfortable with," Hudson told reporters on Monday. By cutting off Medicaid funding to the women’s health organization, Planned Parenthood argues that thousands of other women could lose access to similar services they couldn't get elsewhere.

The state’s move wouldn’t just end state funding for Planned Parenthood services like pregnancy tests, contraception and cancer screenings. It would also end the allocation of federal dollars to Planned Parenthood through Medicaid, the joint state-federal insurer of last resort that is administered by Texas. In 2015, Texas spent $310,000 of its own money on the women’s health organization while distributing $2.8 million in federal dollars.

[Isgrimnur]

Texas doubles down:

Amid an ongoing battle over Planned Parenthood’s participation in the state Medicaid program, Texas health officials are cutting off funding to a Planned Parenthood affiliate for an HIV prevention program.

In a notice received by Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast late Monday, an official with the Department of State Health Services informed the Houston-based provider that it would not renew its contract for HIV prevention services.

The long-standing grant, which funds HIV testing and prevention services, was set to expire on Dec. 31, according to the notice which was obtained by The Texas Tribune.
...
The contract is federally funded through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention but managed by the state. A spokeswoman for the CDC said she was unaware of the state’s notice and did not immediately provide comment.

By ending Planned Parenthood’s contract, the state is cutting off almost $600,000 in annual funding, which the health care provider used for HIV testing and counseling, condom distribution and referral consultations.
...
It’s unclear whether the state will reallocate the funds to a different provider in the area. A health department spokesman on Tuesday said the state was “working with local health departments in the area to continue to provide these services.”
...
In moving to cut the organization’s Medicaid funding, the state also cited unspecified allegations of Medicaid fraud. But despite its claims that it had proof of misconduct, state health officials have yet to deliver the final legal notice to defund the organization.

This year, lawmakers also wrote a provision into the budget prohibiting clinics affiliated with abortion providers from participating in the joint state-federal Breast and Cervical Cancer Services program, which provides cancer screenings for poor, uninsured women in Texas.

[GreenGoo]

I'm running out of disdain.

Thank God I don't actually rely on those services for my own health. Having these dough heads even in the same area as my healthcare would make me want to break something.

[Pyperkub]

Surprise, surprise!

HOUSTON — A grand jury here that was investigating allegations of misconduct against Planned Parenthood has instead indicted two anti-abortion activists who made videos of the organization.

In a statement, the Harris County district attorney, Devon Anderson, said Monday that the director of the Center for Medical Progress, David Daleiden, had been indicted on a felony charge of tampering with a governmental record and a misdemeanor count related to purchasing human organs.

Maybe the only ones who broke the law here were the videographers?

[Pyperkub]

0-14:

so far, Congress’ investigation has turned up no evidence that the organization profited from fetal tissue donations, and 13 states that opened their own investigations have cleared Planned Parenthood of wrongdoing. Eight more states declined to even investigate the nonprofit, citing a lack of evidence.

or should that be 0-21?

[Zarathud]

The Republicans even fail at turning manufactured OUTRAGE! into real evidence.

[Isgrimnur]

Surprise, surprise!

HOUSTON — A grand jury here that was investigating allegations of misconduct against Planned Parenthood has instead indicted two anti-abortion activists who made videos of the organization.

In a statement, the Harris County district attorney, Devon Anderson, said Monday that the director of the Center for Medical Progress, David Daleiden, had been indicted on a felony charge of tampering with a governmental record and a misdemeanor count related to purchasing human organs.

Maybe the only ones who broke the law here were the videographers?

Round 2:

California prosecutors on Tuesday charged two anti-abortion activists who made undercover videos of themselves trying to buy fetal tissue from Planned Parenthood with 15 felonies, saying they invaded the privacy of medical providers by filming without consent.

The charges against David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt of the Center for Medical Progress come eight months after similar charges were dropped in Texas.
...
Prosecutors say Daleiden, of Davis, California, and Merritt, of San Jose, filmed 14 people without permission between October 2013 and July 2015 in Los Angeles, San Francisco and El Dorado counties. One felony count was filed for each person. The 15th was for criminal conspiracy to invade privacy.
...
Daleiden and Merritt had previously been indicted in Texas on similar charges in January of 2016, but all of the charges were eventually dropped by July as prosecutors said a grand jury had overstepped its authority. The grand jury had originally been convened to investigate Planned Parenthood, but after finding no wrongdoing turned around and indicted Daleiden and Merritt instead.

Texas is a one-party consent recording state. California is a two-party consent state.

[Isgrimnur]

ABC

A federal appeals court on Wednesday barred the release of videos made by an anti-abortion group whose leaders are facing felony charges in California accusing them of recording people without permission in violation of state law.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling blocking the recordings made by the Center for Medical Progress at meetings of the National Abortion Federation, an association of abortion providers.
...
The 9th Circuit noted in its decision that U.S. District Judge William Orrick had reviewed the National Abortion Federation footage and found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing.

The court affirmed the judge's decision that the Center for Medical Progress waived any First Amendment right to release the videos by signing confidentiality agreements with the federation that barred recordings of its meetings or the disclosure of any information obtained there.

[Moliere]

$50 for baby parts is so 12 years ago.

[Isgrimnur]

NY Times

Planned Parenthood was awarded as much as $2.2 million in damages on Friday, after a federal jury in San Francisco ruled that an anti-abortion activist had broken federal and state laws when he secretly recorded workers for the organization.
...
Mr. Daleiden, the leader of a group called the Center for Medical Progress, posed as a biotechnology representative to make the recordings. The jury found that he had trespassed on private property and committed fraud, according to court papers. Planned Parenthood said in a statement that the jury had ruled in its favor on each of its claims, including a violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.

[Holman]

including a violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.

Somewhere, Mr. Fed feels a great disturbance in the Force...