Louisiana's Jindal Cuts Medicaid Contract for Planned Parenthood

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, a Republican candidate for president, is ending the state’s Medicaid agreement with Planned Parenthood.

Jindal said he was terminating the contract because of videos circulated by an anti-abortion group. The videos showed Planned Parenthood employees discussing preserving aborted fetal body parts "so that they can be sold on the open market," according to his statement. Jindal said the state is also concerned that chapters could be recommending abortions to clients in violation of Louisiana law.

"This is an organization not worthy of receiving public assistance from the state," Jindal said in the news release. Medicaid is a joint state-federal health-care program for the poor. Under decades-old law, federal funds can’t be spent on abortions.

Planned Parenthood, which provides family planning and contraception in addition to terminating pregnancies, has been a target of conservative Republican politicians for years. The group says it abides by a law that allows providers to be reimbursed for the costs of processing tissue donated by women who had abortions. It has apologized for some of the contents in the video.

Jindal is one of four sitting governors vying for the Republican nomination. Although Wisconsin’s Scott Walker called for a state-by-state campaign to defund Planned Parenthood last month, Jindal is the first to terminate its Medicaid contract, giving the organization a 30-day notice of its cancellation.

The U.S. Senate was scheduled to vote on defunding the organization Monday.