INDIANAPOLIS | U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt ruled today against a temporary restraining order on legislation signed Tuesday to stop funding for Planned Parenthood of Indiana.
"We are deeply disappointed that the judge decided not to stop this unconscionable law from impacting Hoosiers seeking preventive, reproductive health care," Planned Parenthood President and CEO Betty Cockrum said in a statement. "The ruling means that Hoosiers who rely on federal funding have lost access to their crucial and life-saving preventive health care at Planned Parenthood of Indiana."
Cockrum said the ruling today means 9,300 Medicaid patients no longer can receive care from their preferred provider.
The bill, signed by Gov. Mitch Daniels, is the first in the nation to cut off all funding to the agency that provides family planning services to women. The bill tightens abortion restrictions in the state.
Kyle Martinek, of Valparaiso, said he believes the governor signed the legislation as a move to help Daniels' future political career. Although he hasn't made an announcement yet, Daniels is expected to make a 2012 presidential bid. Martinek said he believes Daniels will use the legislation as a talking point in his campaign.
"Defunding Planned Parenthood is a short-sighted move to score some political points. In the long run, it will only cause more problems for the state," Martinek said.
On Tuesday, shortly after the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana filed for a temporary restraining order and injunction on behalf of Planned Parenthood of Indiana, Cockrum said patients with appointments at the state's 28 clinics still would be seen.
"We will see all patients who rely on federal funding that have appointments until we receive a ruling in this case and will cover those costs out of our Women's Health Fund," she said.
Al Raffin, of Porter, president of the anti-abortion rights group Porter County Right to Life, said he agreed with Daniels' decision to sign House Enrolled Act 1210.
"Biologically, it is a known fact that life begins at the moment of conception and that an abortion is the taking of an innocent human life, a life in its earliest forms," Raffin said. "There are other women's health care providers who provide the other services that (Planned Parenthood) provides and who do not engage in abortion services."
But Prudence Cunningham, of Clarksville, Tenn., who grew up in Merrillville, disagrees. She credits Planned Parenthood with saving her life about 10 years ago when her Pap smear came back abnormal and positive for precancerous cells on her cervix. She said she wasn't able to find a doctor who would treat her because she didn't have insurance, but Planned Parenthood provided her with vouchers to receive treatment in Indianapolis.
"They saved my fertility," said Cunningham, now a mother. "They really helped me in finding a place I could afford to get treatment."
Richard Stith, a professor of law at Valparaiso University, supports Daniels' decision to sign the bill approved by the Indiana legislature, but not because of the moral issues involved.
"Without impugning the good will of groups like Planned Parenthood, I think it makes no sense for an agency that is supposed to prevent pregnancy also to be making a lot of money off pregnancy (by providing abortion)," he said. "Pregnancy prevention will be done much better by groups that do not have such a conflict of interest."
The court still will rule on other issues in the case and a request for an injunction. The hearing on the injunction is scheduled for June 6.