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© Photograph: Joshua Roberts/ReutersPlanned Parenthood members at a Pro-Choice rally in Washington DC.
Planned Parenthood plans further challenges to state's attempts to cut its funding for women's healthcare provision.

Texas can cut off funding to the family planning organization Planned Parenthood's programs for poor women, a judge ruled on Monday. Judge Gary Harger said that the state can exclude otherwise qualified doctors and clinics from receiving state funding if they advocate for abortion rights, attorney general spokeswoman Lauren Bean said.

The state has long banned the use of state funds for abortion, but it had continued to reimburse Planned Parenthood clinics for providing basic healthcare to poor women through the state's Women's Health Program. The program provides check-ups and birth control to 110,000 poor women a year; Planned Parenthood clinics were treating 48,000 of them.

A Planned Parenthood lawsuit to stop the cut will still go forward, but the judge decided on Monday that the ban can go into effect for now.

"We are pleased the court rejected Planned Parenthood's latest attempt to skirt state law," Bean said. "The Texas attorney general's office will continue to defend the Texas legislature's decision to prohibit abortion providers and their affiliates from receiving taxpayer dollars through the Women's Health Program."

Ken Lambrecht, president and chief executive of Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas, said he had brought the lawsuit on behalf of poor women who depend on its clinics.

"It is shocking that once again Texas officials are letting politics jeopardize health care access for women," Lambrecht said. "Our doors remain open today and always to Texas women in need. We only wish Texas politicians shared this commitment to Texas women, their health, and their well-being."

Planned Parenthood has brought three lawsuits over Texas' so-called "affiliate rule", arguing that it violates the constitutional rights of doctors and patients while also contradicting existing state law. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) has spent the last nine months preparing to implement the affiliate rule. But federal officials warned that it violated the Social Security Act and cut off federal funds for the Women's Health Program, prompting the commission to start a new program using only state money.

State officials have also scrambled to sign up new doctors and clinics to replace Planned Parenthood. Women who previously went to Planned Parenthood clinics will now have to use the agency's web site to find a new state-approved doctor. On Friday, HHSC officials acknowledged that they are unsure whether the thousands of new doctors can pick up Planned Parenthood's caseload in all parts of the state.

"I vehemently disagree with the state's efforts to blacklist a qualified provider and, thereby, interfere with a woman's right to choose her own provider," said state representative Donna Howard. "I will be submitting a letter to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, requesting a list of approved providers to gauge the outreach of the new program, and ensure that all qualified women throughout the state have access to its services."

Another hearing is scheduled with a different judge for 11 January, at which Planned Parenthood will again ask for an injunction to receive state funding.