The U.S. Supreme Court today announced it would not hear arguments regarding an Arizona law that sought to strip funding from Planned Parenthood for health-care programs unrelated to abortion services. As the Weekly explained when the law was struck down in federal court in February 2013:
The 2012 law sought to prevent women on the state’s AHCCCS program or other state-assisted programs from using Planned Parenthood’s clinics for any of their health-care needs—birth control, cancer screenings, STD treatment and the like.
The case largely rested on whether Planned Parenthood was “qualified” to provide the services. Federal law says that the state can’t discriminate against qualified providers when deciding how to spend federal Medicaid funds. The new state law, passed during the 2012 session, declared that any organization that provided abortion services was not considered a “qualifed” provider.
Planned Parenthood sued, arguing that the state couldn’t determine qualifications on that basis. It’s a case that abortion opponents are making in other states. So far, they’re losing in federal court.
Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne appealed, despite the precedents that suggested that the law could not stand up to constitutional review. The state lost again at the U.S. Circuit Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court announced today that it would not hear Arizona’s final appeal of the law.
Planned Parenthood Arizona President and CEO Bryan Howard called the Supreme Court’s decision “a victory for Arizona women and their families.”
“The men and women of this state have the right to see the health care provider they deem is best for them,” Howard said in a prepared statement. “Thousands of low-income women rely on Planned Parenthood for breast and cervical cancer screenings, birth control, and other basic health care. Politics should never interfere with a woman’s access to vital services.”
This article appears in Feb 20-26, 2014.
“Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne appealed, despite the precedents that suggested that the law could not stand up to constitutional review.”
Of course he did, because the people here in Arizona who elected this dolt support this kind of activity. Face it, this state is as backwater as it gets.
Hit and Run Horne should resign.
Tom Horne is such a dlck.
Your tax dollars at work folks. We have no money for sick people, poor people or kids, but we have all the money in the world to defend these idiotic laws that these clowns keep passing. They’re now 0 for how many? SB1062 will just be the latest to get torn apart by the courts should it get signed into law. The sad part is, the GOP pass these laws just to toss red meat to their base, knowing full well that they’ll be struck down. It’s all about getting themselves reelected- the damage to our state be damned…
When Horne dies, I want his brain because it hasn’t been used yet.
This state is proving that that state governments are moving backwards instead of forward.
Arizona is rapidly turning into a place I no longer wish to go. But since I’m a big fan of the Cactus League, I’m wondering if they couldn’t move it to some other state. So sad that their lame-brain governor is going to have to decide whether to veto that state’s latest hate legislation (No Gays Wanted Law). It was truly appalling to see Rachel Maddow interview some fool Arizona state senator who admitted his vote in favor was a mistake, but still couldn’t see where there was anything discriminatory about it. These folks need to come in out of the sun and see if perhaps their brains might function better.
Maybe if these folks studied the Constitution before writing any more laws…we could save a lot of money now spent trying to defend the indefensible.