Today, Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher led members in the Texas Delegation in a letter to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure to urge the enforcement of Medicaid’s free choice of provider requirement and to require the State of Texas to reinstate Planned Parenthood as a qualified Medicaid provider. 

“The White House has made clear it is committed to protecting and expanding access to sexual and reproductive health care, as well as ensuring that Medicaid patients are able to use their health coverage without discriminatory barriers that undermine the program and health care access,” the Members wrote.  “It has also warned that states cannot withhold Medicaid funding from Planned Parenthood or block people with Medicaid from accessing care at Planned Parenthood health centers. Now, we are asking you to act. Public health should not be a political weapon.”

Congresswoman Fletcher led the letter, which was signed by Reps. Lloyd Doggett, Colin Z. Allred, Sylvia R. Garcia, Eddie Bernice Johnson, Veronica Escobar, Joaquin Castro, Al Green, Marc Veasey, and Sheila Jackson Lee.

To view the full text of the letter, click here.