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November 13, 2012

Clinics sues over WIC funding

The Associated Press Associated Press

OKLAHOMA CITY — A spokesman for Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin on Monday defended the state’s decision to cut off federal funding for three Tulsa-area Planned Parenthood clinics in the wake of a lawsuit that alleges the action was politically motivated retaliation for supporting abortion rights.

Planned Parenthood of the Heartland filed the federal lawsuit filed against the state’s health commissioner Friday over its decision to terminate Women, Infants and Children, or WIC, contracts and the three facilities.

But Fallin spokesman Alex Weintz said the governor was not involved in the decision, which he said was based more on the cost-effectiveness of the clinics.

Planned Parenthood maintains that women and children who receive food and nutritional counseling at the three clinics will be irreparably harmed if the Oklahoma Department of Health pushes ahead with its decision.

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