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Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson on Friday canceled the state's contracts with Planned Parenthood, making his the third Southern state to do so since anti-abortion activists released a series of videos that they say suggests the organization sells fetal tissue. (Barnes, 8/14)

Arkansas is ending its Medicaid payments to Planned Parenthood, Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Friday, despite warnings federal officials have given other states that such a move could violate the law. Hutchinson ordered the Arkansas Department of Human Services to terminate its Medicaid provider contract with the organization in 30 days. The move came in response to secretly recorded videos released by an anti-abortion group showing Planned Parenthood officials describing how they provide fetal tissue from abortions for medical research. (Demillo, 8/14)

Arkansas and Utah are the latest states to target funding for Planned Parenthood, making five states in total trying to restrict money from the women's health group. Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson is moving ahead with plans to strip state funding from Planned Parenthood, defying a federal warning earlier this week that doing so could be against the law. ... Utah Gov. Gary Herbert also announced Friday that he has instructed the Utah Department of Health to stop acting as an intermediary for pass-through federal funds to the women’s health group. “The allegations against Planned Parenthood are deeply troubling,” Herbert said in a statement. (Ferris, 8/14)

Planned Parenthood said the move is part of a bigger, dangerous political agenda and that Mr. Hutchinson has signed new abortion restrictions into law this year. ... Planned Parenthood said earlier that it is weighing all options following the steps to cut off Medicaid funding. The organization said it is also watching for potential defunding measures in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. (Armour, 8/14)

The Obama administration this month warned two states that by ending Medicaid funding of Planned Parenthood, they may be out of compliance with federal law—step one in a process that could end in a complete termination of federal Medicaid funding for those states. But if precedent holds, things need not get that far for Planned Parenthood in Louisiana and Alabama to keep receiving Medicaid money. (Friday, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson directed the state Human Services Department to end its agreement with Planned Parenthood.) States have made similar defunding attempts before, and when Planned Parenthood sued, they lost in court. (Owens, 8/17)