OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - A federal judge has denied a
request by Planned Parenthood to temporarily block Oklahoma from
terminating a contract with the agency to provide nutritional services
to low-income mothers.
In a ruling Monday, U.S. District Judge Stephen
Friot denied Planned Parenthood's motion for a preliminary injunction
that would have stopped the Oklahoma Health Department from ending its
contracts with three Tulsa-area clinics.
Attorneys for Planned Parenthood have argued the
organization's support for abortion rights played a role in the
department's decision not to renew the contracts for the federal Women,
Infants and Children, or WIC, program.
Oklahoma Commissioner of Health Terry Cline
testified last week that was not the case. Health department officials
say the decision was based on a variety of long-term managerial and
administrative problems with Planned Parenthood.
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