Planned Parenthood awaits funding cutoff in Texas

Planned Parenthood awaits funding cutoff in Texas

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Planned Parenthood says its Texas clinics are operating like normal for now, even as state officials move to cut off funding.

Planned Parenthood spokeswoman Rochelle Tafolla said today that clinics are reassuring patients that nothing’s changed yet but that its services have been “jeopardized.”

State health officials are severing funding for Planned Parenthood clinics that provide family planning and health services for nearly half of the 130,000 mostly low-income women enrolled in the Texas Women’s Health Program.

A new Texas law bans state funding for clinics that affiliate with abortion providers. Planned Parenthood does not actually provide abortions itself and is challenging the law in court.

On Tuesday, a federal appeals court ruled the state can cut off funding until an October trial.