Indiana Planned Parenthood Cuts Off Medicaid Users

Planned Parenthood's struggles continues in Indiana ... and Wisconsin. In the former state, thousands of low-income patients will officially have to find a way to pay for birth control and medical exams. In the wake of a new law eliminating the organization's Medicaid funding, Planned Parenthood yesterday began turning away Medicaid patients who couldn't afford the services, the AP reports. Private donations had been covering those patients' bills since the law took effect May 10, but the money ran out.

The defunding "disrupts" medical services for about 9,300 Medicaid patients who used the state's 28 clinics, the organization says. Planned Parenthood is seeking a preliminary injunction to block the law, which includes other tight restrictions on abortion; a ruling is expected July 1. Meanwhile, in Wisconsin, Governor Scott Walker is expected to sign a bill that would make his state the fourth to defund Planned Parenthood. Click for more on that budget bill. (More Planned Parenthood stories.)