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SALT LAKE CITY — The Planned Parenthood Association of Utah will appeal a federal judge's denial of a preliminary injunction against Gov. Gary Herbert, allowing the state to block funding to the organization while it pursues a lawsuit.
The embattled reproductive health organization filed a notice of appeal Sunday with Utah's federal court, announcing its intent to fight U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups' decision last week denying a preliminary injunction against Herbert and canceling a temporary restraining order filed against the state. The appeal will be filed with the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.
In his decision, Waddoups said Planned Parenthood failed to meet the required burden of proof in its request.
The lawsuit and restraining order were filed in September after Herbert instructed state agencies to stop distributing federal funds to Utah's Planned Parenthood in the wake of nationwide controversy over the organization's practices performing abortions.
The funds in question — totaling about $273,000 in grants from the federal government — will be redistributed to local health departments and other service providers "to provide the same kind of health care to women that Planned Parenthood was doing," Herbert said last week.
The money was slated for two sex education programs, an STD testing program and an STD tracking database.
Herbert handed down his order after the release of several videos that were secretly recorded and purport to show Planned Parenthood officials bargaining over the price of aborted fetal tissue.
Officials from the national Planned Parenthood organization have called the videos highly edited and misleading.
