Arkansas ending Medicaid payments to Planned Parenthood

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Arkansas is ending its Medicaid payments to Planned Parenthood, Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Friday, despite warnings federal officials have given other states that such a move could violate the law.

Hutchinson ordered the Arkansas Department of Human Services to terminate its Medicaid provider contract with the organization in 30 days. The move came in response to secretly recorded videos released by an anti-abortion group showing Planned Parenthood officials describing how they provide fetal tissue from abortions for medical research.

Planned Parenthood received more than $51,000 in Medicaid payments in Arkansas over the past fiscal year for family planning and gynecological services. None of the money went toward abortions, Arkansas Department of Human Services spokeswoman Amy Webb said.

Alabama and Louisiana earlier this month announced they were ending Medicaid payments to Planned Parenthood, a move that prompted a warning from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that it could violate federal law.