Ind. Appeals Injunction Blocking Planned Parenthood Defunding Law

June 29, 2011 — Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller (R) on Tuesday filed an appeal with the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago challenging U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt's decision to issue a preliminary injunction blocking a law that eliminated funding through state contracts or grants to Planned Parenthood of Indiana because it offers abortion services, the AP/Miami Herald reports.

The state is seeking a review of the preliminary injunction before further action is taken on the lawsuit, which seeks a permanent injunction. The preliminary injunction would remain in effect while the appeal is pending.

The state also has challenged CMS Administrator Donald Berwick's rejection of Indiana's plans to change its Medicaid program to reflect the law. Zoeller told the AP that if federal and state officials cannot work out a compromise, that dispute also likely would end up in the appeals court.

Betty Cockrum, president of PPIN, said, "We are confident we will prevail in our legal arguments and find it regrettable that the Indiana attorney general has chosen to invest even more state resources in an appeal" (Kusmer, AP/Miami Herald, 6/28).