DOJ Enters Court Battle Over Indiana Abortion Law

The Wall Street Journal reports:

A powerful combatant has joined the fight in a pending Indiana lawsuit over the state’s controversial new abortion law.

As we recently noted, the law at the center of the dispute bans organizations, including Planned Parenthood, from receiving Medicaid funds if they provide abortions. Indiana says that the law, enacted in May, should prevent Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid funds even for non-abortion services, because such funds help Planned Parenthood stay in business and thus indirectly subsidize abortions.

The Department of Justice entered the fray yesterday, filing a brief in the case that contends Indiana federal judge Tanya Walton Pratt should block the abortion law on the grounds that it thwarts Medicaid recipients from freely choosing the medical provider of their choice, AP reports.

Betty Cockburn, president of Planned Parenthood of Indiana, has said that the Indiana law could soon force her organization to cut off services to Medicaid recipients.

The Obama administration previously objected to the law and told Indiana officials that it could result in the state losing all of its $4 billion in Medicaid funding. But the DOJ’s brief came as a surprise to Planned Parenthood lawyer Ken Falk, AP reports. “I had no idea this was coming,” he said.

Judge Pratt has said that she will decide whether to enjoin the Indiana law by July 1.

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