It’s a dichotomy of defense in Texas as Abby Johnson, the former Planned Parenthood worker who walked away and became a pro-life spokesperson and activist joined with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), who filed a suit on behalf of her, alleging that  Planned Parenthood “knowingly committed Medicaid fraud from 2007 to 2009 by improperly seeking reimbursements from the Texas Women’s Health Program (WHP) for products and services not reimbursable by that program.” The suit was filed in 2009 under a federal law “that allows ‘whistleblowers’ with inside information to expose fraudulent billing by government contractors. By law, such cases must initially be filed under seal and may not be made public while federal and state governments decide whether to join the case,” according to the ADF. You can read the entire case here in PDF.

However, the timing of the public release of this case is ironic because it comes as Texas is battling the Obama Administration on the same fund Johnson’s case says Planned Parenthood misused.

After Texas defunded Planned Parenthood last year, President Obama informed Texas Governor Rick Perry that unless it continued to fund Planned Parenthood the government would pull funds from Texas for the WHP, alleging it’s an injustice to women to not provide them care, even if some of them do abortions. However, Johnson’s suit asserts that the real injustice to women has been done by Planned Parenthood by fraud and false filing. According to the ADF:

The lawsuit alleges that Planned Parenthood of Houston and Southeast Texas, now known as Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, filed at least 87,075 false, fraudulent, or ineligible claims with the Texas Women’s Health Program. As a result, Planned Parenthood wrongfully received and retained reimbursements totaling more than $5.7 million.

Yesterday, separate from Johnson’s suit,  Gov. Perry’s office issued this statement which said Texas was unwilling to allow poor women to suffer while the government played its pro-abortion games with the state. Perry’s office says that Perry wrote to President Obama:

“Your administration’s attempt to violate states’ rights under the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution by mandating which health providers the State of Texas must use is nothing more than an effort to continue to financially support abortion providers like Planned Parenthood and their affiliates. The federal government should not be in the business of protecting abortion providers at the expense of the health of Texas women. Texans send a substantial amount of our tax dollars to Washington, D.C., and it is unacceptable that your administration is denying Texas taxpayers the use of those dollars to fund this program simply because of your pro-abortion agenda.”

Perry issued instructions to Texas Health and Human Services Commissioner Tom Suehs essentially “make up” for the money the government pulls until this could be worked out, saying.

“I am directing you to begin working with legislative leadership to identify state funding to continue to provide these services, in full compliance with Texas law, should the Obama Administration make good on its threat to end the health care to these 100,000-plus women.”

The story adds:

Texas will carry the costs from the time the Obama Administration cuts funding for the program until this impending decision is reversed, either by negotiated resolution or litigation.

The timing of these instances is notable because as the Obama Administration is chiding Texas for not helping Planned Parenthood, and Planned Parenthood is in Texas currently creating a wave of protests and rallies all over the state, accusing Gov. Perry of being anti-woman, now, coming from behind the scenes is an already filed lawsuit from 2009 which is finally allowed to be made public is Johnson and the ADF, putting the whole debacle in context.

If this lawsuit is proven true, it would expose Planned Parenthood for being the ones who don’t care about poor women because if they did, there would be no reason to overbill so much money. Meanwhile, Perry, accused of not caring about women, has ensured that Obama’s bullying funding process will not interfere with non-abortion care for poor women all over the Lone Star State.

The Planned Parenthood affiliate that is the subject of Johnson’s suit is the one that happens to house the largest abortion facility in North America, which we have reported about in the past. In fact, recently I wrote this blog on the finances of the same affiliate which shows it received $7 million in Medicaid funds in 2009 alone, one of the years in which Johnson’s lawsuit alleges Medicaid fraud.

As the Obama administration and Planned Parenthood are publicly and blatantly accusing Texas of denying women health care, we see Texas Governor Perry instructing his state to make up for what the government is pulling and Johnson’s timely lawsuit alleging that Planned Parenthood wasn’t really using this money for its help anyway.

We’ll continue to watch this story and update you. Meanwhile, please be in regular prayer for Governor Perry, Abby Johnson, the ADF, and all those involved in the fight for truth. It seems Texas is being set against the backdrop of the nation on this issue, a fitting place for the Lone Star State and its historic cries for liberty.