Feds Join Supreme Court in Rejecting Indiana Abortion Law

A federal agency has denied Indiana's appeal of an administrative ruling barring the state from denying Planned Parenthood Medicaid funds because it performs abortions.

The Indiana Attorney General's Office announced the decision by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Friday, just a few days after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to take up a separate court case involving the same law.

Both decisions effectively nullified Indiana's ability to enforce a 2011 law targeting Planned Parenthood, saying it denied women the right to choose their own medical providers.

Attorney General Greg Zoeller has maintained the issue was an administrative one, not a legal one, but the state lost in both venues.

 Gov. Mike Pence said earlier this week he was considering options.