Justice Department Joins Texas Lawsuit Against Planned Parenthood

The United States Justice Department is stepping into the Texas lawsuit that accuses Planned Parenthood of Medicaid fraud, according to a court filing reported on Saturday. The filing was made on Friday night and gives the federal government a direct role in a case first brought in 2021.

The move comes days after Texas voters elected Democrat Nathan Johnson as the state's next attorney general. The lawsuit was championed by the outgoing Republican attorney general, Ken Paxton, who lost his bid for a seat in the United States Senate in Tuesday's midterm elections.

What the case claims

Paxton and an anonymous plaintiff want Planned Parenthood to return money it collected from the Medicaid programs of Texas and Louisiana after the states cut off its funding, plus heavy additional penalties. Planned Parenthood has said the sums sought could reach 1.8 billion dollars and that losing the case would force it to shut down in Texas.

The lawsuit accuses Planned Parenthood of breaking the federal False Claims Act. It says the group kept billing the state programs and collecting payments after the first decisions to end its funding, and then failed to repay the money once the terminations took effect.

Planned Parenthood's answer

Planned Parenthood says billing the states while their termination decisions were paused by the courts was legal. It also says it cannot be held liable because it was giving legal advice to its affiliates, an argument the courts have treated as a claim of immunity from the suit.

Where the case stands

In August, the full United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled unanimously that Planned Parenthood's appeal of a 2023 decision denying the group immunity was premature. The ruling cleared the case to continue after a pause of nearly three years.

An anonymous plaintiff filed the case in 2021 under the False Claims Act, which lets private plaintiffs sue on behalf of the government. Texas later joined the case. Louisiana did not join, although the suit seeks repayment of money from the Louisiana program as well.

The Justice Department's filing puts federal lawyers inside the case as it moves forward again, at the same moment Texas prepares to hand its attorney general's office to a Democrat who won office after campaigning against Paxton's approach to abortion related litigation.