In an official statement issued this afternoon, Louisiana governor and presidential candidate currently polling at 1 percent Bobby Jindal announced that his office is terminating the state's Medicaid provider contract with Planned Parenthood.
Jindal is taking these steps even though, by his own admission, the state has not completed its investigation of Planned Parenthood.
Today, the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals informed Planned Parenthood it is exercising its right to terminate Planned Parenthood’s Medicaid provider agreement. In recent weeks, multiple videos have surfaced showing Planned Parenthood Federation of America senior personnel and other employees describing how they actively engage in illegal partial birth abortion procedures and conduct these abortions in a manner that leaves body parts intact so that they can later be sold on the open market. Since these videos have surfaced, Governor Jindal has directed DHH to investigate Planned Parenthood’s activities in Louisiana and also sent a letter to both the Louisiana Inspector General and the F.B.I. asking them to assist in the investigation.
The idea that Planned Parenthood is selling fetus parts "on the open market" is the most ridiculous shit, as if there's a fuckin' open-air bazaar where one may purchase the freshest fetus parts.
That would be pretty amazing, wouldn't it? That sounds like something authorities would shut down if it actually existed.
As Talking Points Memo points out, Planned Parenthood clinics in Louisiana do not provide abortions.
The move comes despite the fact that the two Planned Parenthood clinics in Louisiana do not provide abortion, which Planned Parenthood confirmed to the state's Department of Health and Hospitals as part of the state's ongoing investigation into claims that the organization is profiting off of aborted fetal tissue donations. A third clinic being built in New Orleans plans to offer abortion, but will not participate in the tissue donation programs, a Planned Parenthood executive told the state.
The state of Indiana recently closed its investigation of Planned Parenthood after concluding the organization has not violated any laws, regulations, or ethical standards. Bobby Jindal's Louisiana isn't waiting for the conclusion of their investigation, however, to announce punishment. And this is not a punishment that harms Planned Parenthood, it's a punishment that harms their most vulnerable patients.
Anyone who receives Medicaid treatment at Planned Parenthood clinics in Louisiana will have to find a new provider by the end of this month. Louisiana has not participated in the expansion of Medicaid under Obamacare during Jindal's tenure, leaving residents with fewer options than ever.
Jindal should be forced to answer for this when state investigators inevitably conclude Planned Parenthood has done nothing wrong. Given that clinics in the state do not provide abortion or participate in tissue donation programs, it shouldn't take more than a few seconds to reach that conclusion.
Does the Jindal administration really require the assistance of the FBI to determine Planned Parenthood does not participate in a program that doesn't exist for a service they do not provide?
