Rebuffed by a federal court, abortion foes at the Capitol are making another bid to cut Planned Parenthood out of Arizona's Medicaid program.
Planned Parenthood currently provides family planning services to Medicaid patients. The federal government picks up about 90 percent of the tab, with the balance paid by the state. Both state and federal law ban the use of tax dollars for elective abortions.
But abortion opponents contend that money paid to Planned Parenthood covers costs for everything from staff and rent to utilities. So this legislation says Planned Parenthood can be kicked out of the Medicaid program if it doesn't segregate what it spends on abortions, including office overhead.
During debate Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Katie Hobbs said the legislation is just asking for a lawsuit. "This attempt has been tried across the country and always ends up in court. It continues to be thwarted by the courts. And so the bottom line is it will cost Arizona taxpayers more money in lawsuits."
State taxpayers shelled out $200,000 in legal fees to Planned Parenthood after federal courts rejected a similar 2012 law. The measure already has been approved by the House and goes to Gov. Doug Ducey after a final Senate roll-call vote.