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.

The state, long a battleground on abortion, has also approved legislation requiring Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers to pass state inspections before they are granted operating licenses. The rules, which could take effect as early as Friday, dictate the size of rooms at abortion clinics; the stocking of emergency equipment, medications and blood supplies; and ties to nearby hospitals.

Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri, which filed the lawsuit against the state in Federal District Court in Kansas City, is contesting a provision of the recently approved state budget that requires federal family planning money to go to hospitals and public health departments, rather than to Planned Parenthood and similar groups. It says the provision would endanger the group’s ability to provide services in the state.

Planned Parenthood said Kansas had breached its constitutional rights and those of its patients. “The budget amendment is contrary to federal law, impermissibly penalizes Planned Parenthood and has the effect of restricting Kansans’ access to health care,” said Helene Krasnoff, a lawyer for the group, in a statement.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/28/us/28kansas.html?ref=politics