Supreme Court upholds South Carolina's ban on Medicaid funds for Planned Parenthood

The U.S. Supreme Court determination comes astatine an important clip for Planned Parenthood, which is facing financial difficulties nationwide. Drew Angerer/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption

Drew Angerer/Getty Images

The Supreme Court delivered a back-door rustle to Planned Parenthood connected Thursday, ruling that states whitethorn trim disconnected Medicaid reimbursements for nan organization's non-abortion aesculapian services.

At rumor was a proviso of nan national Medicaid rule that guarantees Medicaid patients nan expertise to take their doctors, aliases successful nan words of nan statute, they are entitled to "any qualified and consenting provider."

South Carolina, however, maintained that it could disqualify Medicaid providers for "any logic that authorities rule allows." Or arsenic Republican politician Henry McMaster put it, "Taxpayers should not beryllium forced to subsidize abortion providers who are successful nonstop guidance to their beliefs."

On Thursday, nan Supreme Court sided pinch nan authorities by a 6-to-3 vote, on ideological lines.

Writing for nan court's blimpish super-majority, Justice Neil Gorsuch said that peculiarly successful cases that put conditions connected really national money is spent, Congress must "clearly and unambiguously" authorize nan correct to writer arsenic an enforcement mechanism, and Congress, he said, did not do that here. Indeed, he noted, nan statute obscurity uses nan term, "right to sue."

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, penning for nan dissenting wide justices, countered that nan words successful nan statute "could not person been clearer."

The court's decision, she said, "will strip" Medicaid recipients each complete nan state of "a profoundly individual freedom, nan expertise to determine who treats america astatine our astir vulnerable."

A acheronian clip for Planned Parenthood

Planned Parenthood's president and CEO, Alexis McGill Johnson, successful an question and reply pinch NPR, said nan determination would person wide ramifications and would let seventeen states to portion Planned Parenthood clinics of nan expertise to supply non-abortion aesculapian services to agrarian and debased income people.

"It's a acheronian clip [when] a wellness halfway has to close, immoderate clip a diligent is not capable to get nan attraction that they need" said Johnson, "That is simply a acheronian clip because we tin supply that attraction for our nation's astir vulnerable."

These are undeniably reliable days for Planned Parenthood, which besides faces nan possibility—or likelihood—that nan Republican legislature will soon trim disconnected each its Medicaid backing successful each authorities successful nan country. What's more, Planned Parenthood is facing financial difficulties nationwide — NPR reports that Planned Parenthood has closed astatine slightest 34 clinics since past year.

Support for nan states' rights

Jim Campbell, main ineligible counsel for nan blimpish Alliance Defending Freedom, however, sees Thursday's determination arsenic a basal correction to let states to find really they allocate national funds.

"This is simply a really large woody for states that person been sucked into a batch of national litigation," he said. "And if states determine to adopt pro-life policies, past they should beryllium free to find that Medicaid dollars are spent accordant pinch that."

Federal costs person agelong been banned for abortion, observes University of California, Davis Professor Mary Ziegler, writer of 7 books connected nan history of abortion and abortion policy. But, she notes that Planned Parenthood clinics service arsenic superior attraction providers successful galore underserved areas, including successful South Carolina, wherever Thursday's lawsuit began.

In that sense, she says, Thursday's tribunal ruling isn't astir abortion, but it is apt to put a financial strain connected galore Planned Parenthood clinics, forcing immoderate to adjacent their doors. And if legislature defunds Planned Parenthood entirely—as it whitethorn good do successful nan coming weeks-- she says, location would beryllium ripple effects moreover successful states wherever abortion is legal.

"Even successful places for illustration Southern California wherever Planned Parenthood does a beautiful bully occupation of fundraising," immoderate affiliates location get 30 percent of their backing from Medicaid, "so that would beryllium a immense hit," she says.

'Supreme irony'

Ziegler sees " a ultimate irony" successful nan attacks connected Planned Parenthood successful nan aftermath of nan 2022 Supreme Court determination that overturned Roe v. Wade and nan correct to abortion.

"For years, nan pro-choice activity thought it would request to take sides its victories successful tribunal and nan pro-life activity had this imagination that if nan courts were removed from nan image and Roe was gone, they would spell from triumph to victory," said Ziegler, "And alternatively we've seen nan agelong word inclination since nan extremity of Roe is that pro-choice groups are winning triumph aft triumph pinch voters and it's nan pro-life groups that person seen they really request nan courts to win."

How did we get here?

Since 1976, national rule has prohibited utilizing national Medicaid backing for abortion services pinch constricted exceptions for rape, incest and life-threatening complications. But nan Medicaid programme reimburses "any qualified aesculapian provider" for non-abortion services, and successful South Carolina, a authorities pinch a shortage of superior attraction providers, Planned Parenthood South Atlantic has agelong provided regular aesculapian services for low-income residents — including beingness exams and crab screenings.

When nan politician removed nan clinics from nan state's Medicaid roster, nan clinics sued, arguing that Medicaid patients should beryllium capable to take their ain wellness attraction providers for services that don't impact abortion.

They won, not erstwhile but repeatedly, nan little courts ruled that Planned Parenthood South Atlantic is qualified and consenting to supply Medicaid services. Writing for nan Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, Judge J. Harvey Wilkinson, a Reagan appointee, concluded that Congress had intelligibly conferred "an individually enforceable correct for Medicaid beneficiaries to freely take their wellness attraction provider."

But connected Thursday, nan Supreme Court reversed that decision.