Planned Parenthood sues again over Texas health program Fri Oct 26, 2012 3:52pm EDT (Reuters) - Planned Parenthood family planning providers in Texas filed a new lawsuit on Friday over a rule that bars its clinics from a state health program for low-income women because the organization performs abortions. The suit was filed in state court, after a federal appeals court declined on Thursday to reconsider a ruling allowing Texas to withhold funding for women's healthcare from Planned Parenthood clinics. The new lawsuit tries a different legal tactic, filing in state rather than federal court, and arguing that the way the Texas rule is written violates state law. In the past two years, conservative Republicans in more than a dozen U.S. states have taken steps to eliminate funding for Planned Parenthood, resulting in lawsuits. The latest lawsuit in Texas claims the ban is invalid under a section of state law which makes any provision inoperative if it causes Texas to lose federal matching funds for the Women's Health Program. Texas Governor Rick Perry said Thursday after the ruling by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals that the state would immediately stop paying program participants that are affiliates of abortion providers. Planned Parenthood, which is the nation's largest abortion provider, says it does not provide abortions at clinics that participate in the program. Planned Parenthood says it serves nearly half of the women in the program, providing preventive health care such as breast and cervical cancer screenings and birth control. Reporting By Mary Wisniewski and Corrie MacLaggan; Editing by Greg McCune and Andrew Hay