MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley said Thursday that he is cutting off state Medicaid payments to Planned Parenthood in the face of undercover videos shot by anti-abortion activists that implied the group was selling fetal tissue to researchers.
The Republican governor sent Planned Parenthood Southeast a letter announcing that he was terminating agreements that allowed Planned Parenthood to be reimbursed for providing health care services to Medicaid patients. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who is running for GOP presidential nomination, announced a similar decision Monday.
“The deplorable practices at Planned Parenthood have been exposed to Americans, and I have decided to stop any association with the organization in Alabama. As a doctor and Alabama’s governor, the issue of human life, from conception to birth and beyond, is extremely important. I respect human life and do not want Alabama to be associated with an organization that does not,” Bentley said.
Alabama Medicaid Agency records show that the state has paid Planned Parenthood Southeast less than $5,000 over the last two years. The payments were for contraceptives for low-income women and not abortion.
Medicaid in this fiscal year paid the group $3,417.58 for office visits, contraceptive implants and birth control shots. The state Medicaid Agency paid the group $933.79 in 2014 for an office visit, birth control shots and one IUD insertion and injections.