Kansas to Comply With Planned Parenthood Order

Kansas officials on Wednesday said they will obey a judge's order by continuing to fund a state Planned Parenthood affiliate whose federal dollars are threatened by a new state statute.

The state law would preclude Kansas from giving Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri (PPKMM) any of the state's federal family planning funds for non-abortion services. PPKMM receives $330,000 a year in Title X funding, which it uses to provide low-income patients with reproductive health care services such as birth control, cancer screenings, and STD testing.

On Tuesday, US District Judge J. Thomas Marten denied the state's request to fund PPKMM on a monthly basis as way of complying with his Aug. 1 injunction blocking the statute. Marten agreed with PPKMM that the temporary injunction meant returning to the quarterly funding arrangement in place before the enactment of the contested budget provision. The judge also denied the request that PPKMM post a bond in case the state ultimately prevailed in its appeal of his ruling.

"The State of Kansas intends to immediately comply with the order of the court," the Kansas Department of Health and Environment said in a statement. "At the same time, the State will continue to pursue reversal of this order on appeal." The state attorney general's office had a similar reaction.

In its suit, PPKMM argued that its 5,700 Hays and Wichita clinic patients would face higher prices and reduced access to services under the statue, which it also claims is unconstitutional.

It is not known whether the order restores funding to Dodge City Family Planning Clinic, which also lost its annual $39,000 Title X funding under the statute. The clinic, which performs no abortions, serves about 800 low-income patients and is struggling to remain open, DCFPC officials said. DCFPC is not affiliated with PPKMM and was not a party to the lawsuit.

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