Texas is trying to collect more than $1.8 billion from Planned Parenthood in a federal lawsuit, an amount big enough to threaten the organization’s survival. Attorney General-elect Nathan Johnson will soon decide whether the state keeps pushing this case. He should drop it.

The lawsuit dates back to 2022, when outgoing Attorney General Ken Paxton joined a claim that Planned Parenthood improperly billed Medicaid while Texas was working to remove it from the program. The disputed payments total about $10 million. The rest of the $1.8 billion would come from reimbursement, penalties and fees. Planned Parenthood has called the case “meritless,” according to The Texas Tribune.

Now the U.S. Justice Department has told the court it plans to step in, just days after Texas voters elected Johnson. A trial has been proposed for April 2027 before U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, who handled anti-abortion cases as an attorney before joining the bench.

For many Texans on Medicaid, Planned Parenthood clinics are where they go for birth control, cancer screenings and sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing. A judgment this large could drain the organization and leave those patients without a provider they trust.

Johnson has said he is reviewing the case and will act in the state’s interest once he takes office. Texas voters just chose new leadership. That leadership can decide that state resources belong in patient care, not in a costly legal fight aimed at shutting clinics down.

Sign the petition to urge Nathan Johnson to pull Texas out of this lawsuit before it reaches trial.