Supreme Court rules for South Carolina in its bid to defund Planned Parenthood
The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled for South Carolina in its effort to defund Planned Parenthood, concluding that individual Medicaid patients cannot sue to enforce their right to pick a medical provider.
Read more at NBC News
SCOTUS Allows States To Defund Planned Parenthood Without Recourse From Those Who Rely On It
While the Medicaid statute does not, by itself, allow people enrolled in that program to enforce this free-choice clause, the question at the core of this case was whether another federal statute, known as Section 1983, did give them a right to sue.
Read more at Talking Points Memo and The Conversation
Supreme Court Greenlights Republican Crusade to Defund Planned Parenthood
“At a time when health care is already costly and difficult to access, stripping patients of their right to high-quality, affordable health care at the provider of their choosing is a dangerous violation of bodily autonomy and reproductive freedom,” Lopez added, citing Guttmacher data that showed that one in three patients who sought out birth control in 2020 received it from a Planned Parenthood.
Read more at Rolling Stone
Most Planned Parenthood patients are insured through Medicaid. The Supreme Court just undercut that.
The ruling currently only applies to South Carolina, where abortion is already outlawed after six weeks of pregnancy. However, it offers a template to lawmakers in other states. Already, Arkansas, Missouri and Texas are enforcing laws that disqualify Planned Parenthood from their Medicaid programs.
Read more at 19th News