Lawmakers fight Medicaid expansion, Planned Parenthood funds

By SUMMER BALLENTINE and DAVID A. LIEB
Associated Press

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri’s Republican-led Legislature has passed a stopgap budget attempting to block Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood while also funding voter-approved Medicaid expansion. Minutes later, the House on Thursday OK’d a proposal that would allow them to effectively undermine Medicaid expansion by not paying for it in future years. The budget bill is primarily needed to dole out roughly $1.7 billion in federal funding to school districts. Republicans added a provision seeking to block all public funding for Planned Parenthood, including clinics that don’t provide abortions. Republican Gov. Mike Parson signed the budget bill Thursday.