SALT LAKE CITY — A federal appeals court has decided it will not rehear the appeal of a lawsuit filed by Planned Parenthood against Utah’s governor.
In a 27-page order issued Friday, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver said a majority of its judges voted against an “en banc” hearing of the case. Four of the judges, it said, voted to rehear it.
Neither Planned Parenthood Association of Utah or Governor Gary Herbert requested a re-hearing. It was brought up by the 10th Circuit Court itself.
“In my view, we should be extraordinarily cautious in exercising our inherent authority to sua sponte rehear a case when the parties themselves have chosen not to seek en banc review,” Judge Mary Briscoe wrote.
In July, the court ruled that Governor Herbert could not block federal “pass through” dollars from going to the reproductive rights group. He sought to cut off Planned Parenthood’s money after videos surfaced that purported to show executives from the national group discussing the sale of fetal tissue. Planned Parenthood has repeatedly insisted the videos were heavily edited and misleading.
A federal judge in Utah ruled against Planned Parenthood, which appealed to the 10th Circuit Court.
“Respectfully, this case warrants rehearing. As it stands, the panel opinion leaves litigants in preliminary injunction disputes reason to worry that this court will sometimes deny deference to district court factual findings; relax the burden of proof by favoring attenuated causal claims our precedent disfavors; and invoke arguments for reversal untested by the parties, unsupported by the record, and inconsistent with principles of comity,” Judge Neil Gorsuch wrote in a dissent.
Read the 10th Circuit Court’s ruling here:
