Planned parenthood funding faces axe after US Supreme Court bombshell ruling for states

A divided Supreme Court Thursday ruled that US states can block the country’s biggest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, from receiving Medicaid money for health services such as contraception and cancer screenings. The top court cleared the way for states to potentially cut off funding for Planned Parenthood, one of the country's largest abortion providers.

The 6-3 opinion authored by Justice Neil Gorsuch was not directly about abortion, but it comes as a victory to Republicans seeking to defund the nation's largest abortion provider. Planned Parenthood is already barred from receiving federal money for abortion care. But this ruling, where three liberal justices on the top court dissented, would also allow states to cut off reimbursements for other medical services it provides to low-income Americans under the Medicaid program.

"Section 1983 permits private plaintiffs to sue for violations of federal spending-power statutes only in ‘atypical’ situations … where the provision in question ‘clear[ly]’ and ‘unambiguous[ly]’ confers an individual ‘right,’" Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in the majority opinion, ruling that the law in question in the present case "is not such a statute."


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States allowed to remove planned parenthood

The case stems from an executive order issued by South Carolina's Republican governor Henry McMaster in 2018 cutting off Medicaid funding to the two Planned Parenthood clinics in the state. The decision centers on a South Carolina case involving non-abortion services such as contraception, cancer screenings, and pregnancy testing.

Republican leaders in South Carolina have objected to Planned Parenthood because it provides abortions.

Public health care money generally can’t be used to pay for abortions, but Medicaid patients go to Planned Parenthood for other needs in part because it can be tough to find a doctor who takes the publicly funded insurance, the organization has said.

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South Carolina’s Republican governor says no taxpayer money should go the organization. The budget bill backed by President Donald Trump in Congress would also cut Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood. That could force the closure of about 200 centers, most of them in states where abortion is legal, the organization has said.

In 2018, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster, a Republican, moved to cut off the organization's funding, arguing that no taxpayer dollars should go to Planned Parenthood. That action was initially blocked by a lawsuit from Julie Edwards, a patient who relies on the clinic for birth control due to a high-risk medical condition.

The case also tested whether Medicaid patients have the legal right to sue over the choice of providers. While public health groups such as the American Cancer Society argued in court that lawsuits are often the only tool Medicaid recipients have to enforce their rights, South Carolina contended that patients should not be allowed to file such suits. The court's decision siding with the state could restrict patients' ability to challenge funding decisions, particularly in rural areas with limited access to care.

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Though Planned Parenthood receives only $90,000 annually in Medicaid funds from South Carolina—a small fraction of the state's total Medicaid budget—the ruling arrives as Congress considers a Trump-backed federal budget that would eliminate Medicaid funding to the group entirely.

According to the organization, such cuts could force the closure of roughly 200 clinics, many in states where abortion remains legal. South Carolina currently bans abortion at around six weeks of pregnancy, following the Supreme Court's 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade.

(With AP inputs)