MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama has become the third state to defund the abortion giant Planned Parenthood, following Louisiana and New Hampshire.

“I respect human life, and I do not want Alabama to be associated with an organization that does not,” Gov. Robert Bentley Tweeted on Thursday. “The deplorable practices at Planned Parenthood have been exposed to Americans. I’ve terminated any association with the organization in AL.”

His office also wrote a letter to Planned Parenthood Southeast, providing advance notice that the Alabama Medicaid office will discontinue the state’s contract with the group in 15 days. According to reports, the state had reimbursed Planned Parenthood for over $4,000 in contraceptives and IUD’s over the past year.

Planned Parenthood Southeast asserted that Alabama could not legally cancel its Medicaid contract.

“The courts have been clear that the federal law prohibits states from excluding abortion providers from Medicaid,” President Staci Fox told reporters. “Planned Parenthood’s doors remain open and we will continue to provide high-quality, compassionate care to the women and men who rely on us.”

Alabama becomes the third state to defund Planned Parenthood, with the announcement coming just days behind New Hampshire and Louisiana.

As previously reported, the New Hampshire State Executive Council voted on Wednesday despite objections from Gov. Mary Hassan to cancel its $650,000 contract with the abortion giant. The funds will be reallocated to other women’s health facilities.

“It’s time for Governor Hassan to put politics aside and work with the Commissioner of Health and Human Services and the Executive Council to identify alternative health care providers to cover the services that were included in this contract,” said Republican State Committee Chair Jennifer Horn in a statement.

On Tuesday, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal announced that the state would terminate Planned Parenthood’s Medicaid contract.

“Planned Parenthood does not represent the values of the people of Louisiana and shows a fundamental disrespect for human life,” he said. “It has become clear that this is not an organization that is worthy of receiving public assistance from the state.”

Planned Parenthood likewise released a statement asserting that Jindal was “aligning with extremists.”

“Governor Jindal has aligned himself with extremists who are hell-bent on ending access to safe, legal abortion,” stated Dawn Laguens, executive vice president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. “It is almost impossible to believe that Governor Bobby Jindal’s shameful record of restricting women’s access to health care in Louisiana could get any worse.”

The decision to defund Planned Parenthood comes as a result of a series of videos released by the Center for Medical Progress, showing that the organization harvests the organs of aborted babies donated by their mothers and sells them to scientific companies who pay the organization for the body parts. Additional videos are expected to be released in the days and weeks to come.

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