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An appellate court docket is poised to resolve a case that supporters and opponents of abortion entry are carefully watching as a result of the choice might put Deliberate Parenthood, a prolific abortion vendor, on the hook for as much as $1.8 billion.
A full panel of judges on the U.S. Court docket of Appeals for the fifth Circuit heard oral arguments Thursday within the years-long case, which facilities on Deliberate Parenthood’s use of Medicaid funds in Texas and Louisiana.
Jennie Bradley Lichter, president of March for Life, informed Fox Information Digital the “stakes couldn’t be larger” and that the lawsuit might bankrupt Deliberate Parenthood, a nonprofit with tons of of clinics throughout the nation.
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Activists opposing funding for Deliberate Parenthood reveal exterior the U.S. Supreme Court docket on April 2, 2025. ((Invoice Clark/CQ-Roll Name, through Getty))
“Deliberate Parenthood is dealing with a compensation obligation of near $2 billion as a result of it continued to fill its coffers with taxpayers’ cash even after two states had already disqualified it,” Lichter stated. “If that obligation stands, it is going to strike a critical — even existential — blow to Deliberate Parenthood’s nationwide operations and doubtlessly change the abortion panorama on this nation eternally.”
The case comes after Texas and Louisiana stripped Deliberate Parenthood associates of their Medicaid {qualifications} in response to activist David Daleiden releasing video footage exhibiting Deliberate Parenthood workers discussing promoting aborted fetal tissue.
Daleiden confronted a lawsuit and prosecution for illegally recording the workers, however his footage set off a firestorm within the pro-life motion and triggered it to ramp up its efforts to weaken the nonprofit.
Deliberate Parenthood, nevertheless, sued Texas and Louisiana and initially gained an injunction that allowed it to maintain receiving the Medicaid reimbursements. However the determination was reversed on enchantment years later.
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David Daleiden, founding father of The Heart for Medical Progress, on the Worth Voters Summit on Sept. 25, 2015, in Washington, D.C. ( Charles Ommanney/The Washington Publish through Getty Photos)
An nameless litigant then introduced a brand new lawsuit on behalf of the 2 states in search of to claw again the thousands and thousands of {dollars} Deliberate Parenthood had collected whereas the injunction had been in place.
Court docket papers point out that the potential cash Deliberate Parenthood might now owe — reimbursement of the Medicaid {dollars} it collected plus varied multipliers — might add as much as $1.8 billion. The precise greenback quantity can be decided by a jury within the decrease court docket.
However Deliberate Parenthood and the nameless litigant, named in court docket papers as “Alex Doe,” at the moment are ready to see the place the conservative fifth Circuit will land.
The problem earlier than the fifth Circuit’s en banc panel is about whether or not Deliberate Parenthood had immunity when it collected the 4 years’ price of Medicaid {dollars}. Deliberate Parenthood has argued it has immunity as a result of its counsel suggested it to gather the funds in the course of the injunction interval.
A protest signal exterior the Supreme Court docket in the course of the 52nd annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 24, 2025. (BRYAN DOZIER/Center East Photos/AFP through Getty Photos)
Thursday’s oral arguments got here after a three-judge panel for the fifth Circuit comprising two Republican-appointed judges and one Democrat-appointed choose sided with Deliberate Parenthood.
Susan Manning, common counsel for Deliberate Parenthood Federation of America, blasted the Texas and Louisiana lawsuit as a “politically-motivated” try and put the nonprofit out of enterprise.
“This baseless case has just one objective: to close down Deliberate Parenthood and deny sufferers entry to sexual and reproductive well being care,” Manning stated in an announcement this 12 months. “Deliberate Parenthood well being facilities are nonprofits that present important, high-quality well being care to greater than 2 million individuals nationwide yearly.”
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Individually, pro-life activists made progress of their mission to defund Deliberate Parenthood this 12 months when Congress voted to strip the nonprofit of Medicaid funding on the federal stage for a one-year interval.
The U.S. Court docket of Appeals for the first Circuit sided in opposition to Deliberate Parenthood in a lawsuit over the measure.
