Texas Court Dissolves Injunction Allowing State-Funded Abortions
by Allie Martin
March 22, 2005
(AgapePress) - A federal court of appeals has ruled that taxpayers in Texas do not have to support the work of Planned Parenthood.Two years ago, Texas legislators passed the General Appropriations Act of 2003, which restricted distribution of public funds to elective abortion providers. In July 2003, Liberty Legal Institute (LLI) supported the state and filed a brief in support of the Texas law, which prohibited federal and state funds from being used for abortion services.
Planned Parenthood organizations in Houston, North Texas, Central Texas, San Antonio, South Central Texas, West Texas and the Texas Capitol Region sued the state, demanding they be paid $13 million -- or else they would have to stop performing elective abortions. But since Texas prohibits federal and state funding of abortion services, Planned Parenthood would need either to stop providing abortion services or establish a separate legal entity to carry out abortions in order to receive public funding.
A federal district court broke the stalemate by issuing an injunction in the case, which allowed Planned Parenthood to receive taxpayer dollars. But Kelly Shackelford, chief counsel with Liberty Legal, says another federal court has now dissolved that injunction. On Friday, March 11, the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overruled the lower court's injunction against Rider 8 in the case Planned Parenthood vs. Eduardo J. Sanchez, Texas Commissioner of Health.
"We think it's a huge victory," Shackelford notes. "I mean, it's millions of the taxpayers' dollars, and the idea that Planned Parenthood can force the people of Texas to give them money to kill unborn children is outrageous."
But Planned Parenthood's actions to secure the court's aid in the recent legal action showcase the greed of the abortion mill's officials, the LLI attorney points out. He sees the granting of the injunction as a clear violation of the public trust. "It's about time that the court overruled this," he says, adding, "This is an example of the will of the people finally winning out after an activist judge tried to force the people of Texas to pay for Planned Parenthood's activities."
Shackelford finds it comforting to know that Texas residents will not be subsidizing Planned Parenthood. He says the abortion provider and others like it have no right to force Texas taxpayers to support their efforts to kill the unborn.
Allie Martin, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
