Appeals court hears Medicaid fraud case that could cost Planned Parenthood $1.8 billion

An appellate court is poised to decide a case that supporters and opponents of abortion access are closely watching because the decision could put Planned Parenthood, a prolific abortion vendor, on the hook for up to $1.8 billion.

A full panel of judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit heard oral arguments Thursday in the years-long case, which centers on Planned Parenthood’s use of Medicaid funds in Texas and Louisiana.

Jennie Bradley Lichter, president of March for Life, told Fox News Digital the “stakes couldn’t be higher” and that the lawsuit could bankrupt Planned Parenthood, a nonprofit with hundreds of clinics across the country.

FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION FROM DEFUNDING SOME PLANNED PARENTHOOD FACILITIES

“Planned Parenthood is facing a repayment obligation of close to $2 billion because it continued to fill its coffers with taxpayers’ money even after two states had already disqualified it,” Lichter said. “If that obligation stands, it will strike a serious — even existential — blow to Planned Parenthood’s national operations and potentially change the abortion landscape in this country forever.”

The case comes after Texas and Louisiana stripped Planned Parenthood affiliates of their Medicaid qualifications in response to activist David Daleiden releasing video footage showing Planned Parenthood staff discussing selling aborted fetal tissue.

Daleiden faced a lawsuit and prosecution for illegally recording the staff, but his footage set off a firestorm in the pro-life movement and caused it to ramp up its efforts to weaken the nonprofit.

Planned Parenthood, however, sued Texas and Louisiana and initially won an injunction that allowed it to keep receiving the Medicaid reimbursements. But the decision was reversed on appeal years later.

SUPREME COURT RULES AGAINST PLANNED PARENTHOOD IN MEDICAID FUNDING DISPUTE

An anonymous litigant then brought a new lawsuit on behalf of the two states seeking to claw back the millions of dollars Planned Parenthood had collected while the injunction had been in place.

Court papers indicate that the potential money Planned Parenthood could now owe — reimbursement of the Medicaid dollars it collected plus various multipliers — could add up to $1.8 billion. The exact dollar amount would be determined by a jury in the lower court.

But Planned Parenthood and the anonymous litigant, named in court papers as “Alex Doe,” are now waiting to see where the conservative 5th Circuit will land.

The issue before the 5th Circuit’s en banc panel is about whether Planned Parenthood had immunity when it collected the four years’ worth of Medicaid dollars. Planned Parenthood has argued it has immunity because its counsel advised it to collect the payments during the injunction period.

Thursday’s oral arguments came after a three-judge panel for the 5th Circuit comprising two Republican-appointed judges and one Democrat-appointed judge sided with Planned Parenthood.

Susan Manning, general counsel for Planned Parenthood Federation of America, blasted the Texas and Louisiana lawsuit as a “politically-motivated” attempt to put the nonprofit out of business.

“This baseless case has only one goal: to shut down Planned Parenthood and deny patients access to sexual and reproductive health care,” Manning said in a statement this year. “Planned Parenthood health centers are nonprofits that provide essential, high-quality health care to more than 2 million people nationwide every year.”

Separately, pro-life activists made progress in their mission to defund Planned Parenthood this year when Congress voted to strip the nonprofit of Medicaid funding at the federal level for a one-year period.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit sided against Planned Parenthood in a lawsuit over the measure.