The US Supreme Court has ruled in favor of South Carolina’s effort to strip Planned Parenthood of funding under the Medicaid health insurance program.
The 6-3 decision, which was split along ideological lines, overturned a lower court’s decision barring Republican-governed South Carolina from terminating Planned Parenthood South Atlantic’s participation in the state’s Medicaid program.
The ruling bolsters efforts by Republican-led states to deprive the reproductive healthcare provider of public money. South Carolina’s Republican leaders have objected to Planned Parenthood because it provides abortions.
The case centered on whether recipients of Medicaid may sue to enforce a requirement under US law that they may obtain medical assistance from any qualified and willing provider.
The dispute began in 2017 when Republican Governor Henry McMaster ordered officials to end Planned Parenthood’s participation in the state Medicaid program by deeming any abortion provider unqualified to provide family planning services.
Planned Parenthood South Atlantic and a Medicaid patient named Julie Edwards sued the state in 2018, arguing that the Medicaid law protects a “deeply personal right” to choose one’s doctor.
A federal judge previously ruled in Planned Parenthood’s favor, finding that Medicaid recipients may sue under the 1871 law and that the state’s move to defund the organization violated Edwards’s right to freely choose a qualified medical provider.
The Supreme Court’s decision was met with dissent from the court’s three liberal justices, who argued that the ruling undermines civil rights. Justice Neil Gorsuch, writing for the majority, stated that the federal Medicaid law does not grant enrolled individuals the ability to initiate such claims against the state.
This ruling aligns with the conservative majority of the Court, which has now solidified a legal precedent that weakens patients’ rights in the context of Medicaid.
The ruling has significant implications for healthcare rights and access in the United States. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic operates clinics in the South Carolina cities of Charleston and Columbia, where it serves hundreds of Medicaid patients each year, providing physical examinations, screenings for cancer and diabetes, pregnancy testing, contraception, and other services.
The decision is part of an ongoing trend of decisions that undermine the 1871 Civil Rights Act, which was established to empower individuals to sue for civil rights violations.
The Supreme Court’s decision comes after the court overturned its landmark Roe v Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide in 2022. Since then, a number of Republican-led states have implemented near-total bans on the procedure. Some, like South Carolina, prohibit abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.