California has joined 15 other state attorneys general in filing a friend-of-the-court brief in support of a lawsuit by Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio challenging a law in that state that excludes healthcare providers that offer abortion services from participating in other publicly funded health programs, officials said Thursday. The lawsuit challenges the exclusion of such providers from breast and cervical cancer prevention programs, according to California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra. “A woman, not politicians, should decide what is in her best interest when it comes to her health,” Becerra said in a statement a day after the brief was filed. Jerry Brown in December, Becerra has been active in arguing in court against national policies of the Trump administration and those of other states.

Source: Los Angeles Times April 06, 2017 17:36 UTC