{"id":329098,"date":"2025-04-04T06:43:29","date_gmt":"2025-04-04T11:43:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=329098"},"modified":"2025-04-04T06:51:40","modified_gmt":"2025-04-04T11:51:40","slug":"supreme-court-south-carolina-defund-planned-parenthood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/supreme-court-south-carolina-defund-planned-parenthood\/","title":{"rendered":"Supreme Court hears South Carolina case to defund Planned Parenthood"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Supreme Court of the United States heard arguments on Wednesday in a case regarding South Carolina’s effort to defund Planned Parenthood.<\/p>\n

Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic<\/em><\/a><\/span> concerns whether the federal Medicaid Act confers a “right” to choose a specific medical provider and whether Medicaid patients have a right to sue if they are denied the provider they want. Ultimately, the case could protect states from lawsuits when they disqualify Planned Parenthood or any provider from their Medicaid programs. Senior Counsel and VP of Appellate Advocacy with Alliance Defending Freedom, John J. Bursch, represents South Carolina and called the case \u201cpivotal.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2018, Planned Parenthood South Atlantic and its patient, Julie Edwards, who uses Medicaid, sued South Carolina after it disqualified the abortion giant from its Medicaid program. According to Liberty Counsel<\/a>, language in the Medicaid Act which states that patients can choose “any qualified provider” indicates that beneficiaries of Medicaid can choose their provider from those the state has deemed to be qualified<\/em>.<\/p>\n

According to Amy Howe’s SCOTUS Blog<\/a>, “[T]he justices struggled to determine whether the Medicaid law on which Planned Parenthood relies must use specific words to signal that Congress intended to create a private right to enforce it \u2014 and, if so, what those words might be.”<\/p>\n

During oral arguments, Brusch said, “The state decides who the providers are, who are qualified, and you get to choose among them. And they [South Carolina] decided that Planned Parenthood was unqualified for many reasons, chiefly because they are the nation\u2019s largest abortion provider.\u201d<\/p>\n