Supreme Court Blocks Lawsuit Over South Carolina’s Defunding of Planned Parenthood

Photo: NBC News

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday, June 26, that neither Planned Parenthood nor its patients can sue South Carolina for cutting Medicaid funding to the organization, delivering a 6-3 decision which saw the Court’s six conservative members in the majority and three liberal members in the minority.

The ruling stems from a 2018 order by South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster, who directed officials to bar Medicaid payments to Planned Parenthood.

“Payment of taxpayer funds to abortion clinics, for any purpose, results in the subsidy of abortion and the denial of the right to life,” the order said.

Critics of the decision say that the patient in the case sought contraception – not abortion services. However, the case centered on whether plaintiffs could sue to enforce part of the Medicaid law, which gives federal money to the states.

Justice Neil Gorsuch, writing for the majority, said Congress did not clearly authorize such lawsuits, and that enforcement should be left to elected officials or administrative processes rather than unelected judges.

In dissent, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said the decision would “deprive Medicaid recipients in South Carolina of their only meaningful way of enforcing a right that Congress has expressly granted to them.”

Advocates on both sides responded swiftly. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic called the ruling a “grave injustice,” while the conservative Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) said it restored states’ rights to manage public health funding.

“The American people don’t want their tax dollars propping up the abortion industry,” John J. Bursch, a lawyer with ADF, said.

While critics of the decision argue that it affects the ability of potential patients to “freely choose their health care provider,” as stated by a U.S. Court of Appeals judge in Virginia last year, and that the decision “is not about funding or providing abortions,” the fact remains – in 2023-24, Planned Parenthood received $792.2 million in taxpayer funding while performing more than 400,000 abortions the year prior.

While many say that abortion only accounts for a small percentage of the organization’s total health services, recent reports show that Planned Parenthood’s abortion numbers hit an all-time high while other services like breast screenings, medical exams, and adoption referrals have gone down significantly. 

According to the figures shared in Planned Parenthood’s 2020-21 annual report, it performed nearly 200 abortions for every adoption referral.

As federal and private funding increased for the organization, along with excess revenue, so did the number of abortions performed. Interestingly, the performance of other health services declined. These numbers are revelatory of Planned Parenthood’s bottom line.

Previously, UOJ reported that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Maryland parents who object on religious grounds can remove their children from public school lessons involving LGBTQ-themed books.

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