Missouri lawmakers again try to kick Planned Parenthood off Medicaid

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Lawmakers in Missouri are trying to defund Planned Parenthood by taking it off Medicaid rolls, even for the most basic of health care services. It’s a move they’ve tried for years in a state where almost all abortions are banned.

House Republican Majority Leader Jon Patterson on Monday said the chamber will send the bill to GOP Gov. Mike Parson’s desk this week.

Few states — Arkansas, Mississippi, and Texas, according to Planned Parenthood — have successfully blocked Medicaid funding for the organization.

While past efforts to kick Planned Parenthood off Missouri’s Medicaid program have been struck down by courts, this year, GOP lawmakers are taking another approach, hoping to avoid a legal showdown. And some members of the Freedom Caucus are doubling down, by threatening to abolish a tax that could cost the state an additional $2.9 billion in federal funding if they don’t get their way.