Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal canceled Planned Parenthood’s Medicaid contract with his state Monday, moving to strip the organization of funding in the wake of disturbing undercover videos that appeared to show employees haggling over selling fetal tissue obtained from abortions.
Mr. Jindal said the videos showed Planned Parenthood workers admitting they engaged in late-term abortions and did them to try to leave fetus body parts as intact as possible so they could be sold later.
He said his state health department believes Planned Parenthood’s local affiliates could be breaking laws that prohibit groups that take funding from encouraging women to have abortions.
“Planned Parenthood does not represent the values of the people of Louisiana and shows a fundamental disrespect for human life,” the governor said in a statement announcing the move. “It has become clear that this is not an organization that is worthy of receiving public assistance from the state.”
Mr. Jindal insisted there are other organizations and clinics that can provide women’s health services without the baggage that Planned Parenthood brings.
The governor is seeking the GOP’s 2016 presidential nomination. Most of the large field of candidates has spoken out against Planned Parenthood in the wake of the videos, released by the Center for Medical Progress.
Fallout from the videos continues, with governors announcing investigations into Planned Parenthood affiliates in their states.
At the federal level, meanwhile, a Senate vote is slated for later Monday to strip all national taxpayer funds from Planned Parenthood.
The group counters that the videos are misleading, and the White House has called them “fraudulent” and insisted it will reject any effort to halt funding.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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