Supreme Court rules for South Carolina over bid to defund Planned Parenthood

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled for South Carolina over its effort to defund Planned Parenthood, concluding that individual Medicaid patients cannot sue to enforce their right to pick a medical provider.

The court held in a 6-3 ruling on ideological lines with the conservative justices in the majority that the federal law in question does not allow people who are enrolled in the Medicaid program to file such claims.

The ruling authored by Justice Neil Gorsuch is a boost to the state's effort to prevented Planned Parenthood from receiving funding through Medicaid, a federal program for low-income people that is administered by the states, because it prevents individual patients to enforce their right to choose their preferred health care provider.

Federal funding for abortion is already banned, but conservatives have long targeted Planned Parenthood, which provides reproductive health services including abortions where allowed, for any funding it receives even it is for other health care-related services.

They argue that even non-abortion related funding that flows to Planned Parenthood would help it carry out its broader agenda that favors abortion rights.

The state's efforts to defund Planned Parenthood came before the Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion rights ruling in 2022.

South Carolina now has a six-week abortion ban, meaning abortions are rare in the state.

Planned Parenthood has facilities in Charleston and Columbia that provide abortion care in compliance with the new law, as well as other health care services, including contraception, cancer screenings and pregnancy testing.

In 2018, Gov. Henry McMaster issued an executive order that prohibited Planned Parenthood of South Atlantic, the local affiliate of the national group, from providing family planning services under Medicaid.

Julie Edwards, a Medicaid-eligible patient who wants to use Planned Parenthood, joined a lawsuit filed by the group, saying that under federal civil rights law she could enforce her rights in court.

A federal judge ruled in her favor, and after lengthy litigation, the Supreme Court agreed to weigh in.