By: Corey Olson

One year after Texas banned most abortions in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, the state could bankrupt the largest abortion provider. Texas is suing Planned Parenthood for millions in Medicaid charges rung up after the organization was booted off of Medicaid. “Planned Parenthood was caught in an undercover operation a few years ago harvesting and selling body parts from babies that were aborted at their facilities,” says Dr. Joe Pojman, executive director of Texas Alliance for Life. “They were eliminated from the state Medicaid program because they were engaged in fraud—selling the body parts.”

Planned Parenthood challenged their removal from Medicaid in court, but continued to bill the program while the case played out. Ultimately, the courts sided with Texas, but not before Planned Parenthood had charged some $17 million to the program. “They were fraudulently billing the state of Texas, milking them out of money for our tax dollars,” says Pojman. “The state of Texas deserves that back with penalties. This is according to federal law and state law.”

“Simply put, Planned Parenthood does not deserve that money, the state of Texas should get it back.”

In addition to the $17 million in actual Medicaid charges, Texas is seeking more than $1 billion in penalties, fines and punitive damages. A federal judge in North Texas heard arguments in the case last week. If the state wins the case, the future of Planned Parenthood in Texas is uncertain.

“We don’t know if the national office will try and keep Planned Parenthood alive, or whether the three affiliates in Texas will end up closing,” says Pojman. “At this point, we just don’t know.”

The fallout from the criminal Roe v. Wade Supreme Court leak continues. The latest fallout? Big money is rolling in for both sides in political fundraising.

“The other side is going to use this to try and mobilize their people, and their goal is to remove good, pro-life elected officials at the polls” said Dr. Joe Pojman, executive director with Texas Alliance For Life, “We can’t let that happen.”

While money is coming in for both factions, the left has a big advantage. They have a lot more money, and all of the messaging, via their partners with the mainstream media.

“The pro-life movement does not have abortion facilities to raise money for us” Dr. Pojman told KTRH, “We don’t get government funding to do that, we rely on individual donors. We don’t have huge donors giving money like Planned Parenthood does.”

But every little bit will help, especially with so much at stake in the upcoming November midterms.

“This is absolutely huge, and if pro-life voters get out to vote, then I think unborn babies and their mothers, it’ll be looking very good for them for the years to come” Dr. Pojman noted, “If we lose ground? It could be awful, so this is a really critical election, perhaps more critical than any we’ve seen in decades.”

By: Corey Olson

Pro-life advocates strongly support SB 2243 and are cheering its continued progress. Dr. Joe Pojman with Texas Alliance for Life tells KTRH that the legislation makes perfect sense. “We need to remember that abortion is an irreversible decision that claims the life of an unborn child,” he says. “Women need all the information they can get before they make that decision, to figure out if it is the best decision for them.”

Opponents of SB 2243 claim it lacks protections, like requiring the counselor be a licensed medical professional. But Pojman says the information required by the bill could only be shared by qualified personnel. “This is very important information about the characteristics of the unborn child, about alternatives to abortion, about sex trafficking,” he explains. “All things that women are going to find very helpful before they decide whether to have an abortion.”

Despite its passage in the Senate, SB 2243 faces uncertainty in the House due to the limited time left in the 2019 Legislative Session. Still, Pojman believes it has a good chance of passage in a session that has seen other pro-life bills stall out. “There’s still plenty of time for the bill to get considered and voted on,” he says. “And if it gets to the floor, we are very confident that it has the votes to pass the full House and get to the governor’s desk.”