SCOTUS Upholds 6-3 South Carolina’s Prohibition of Medicaid Funds for Planned Parenthood

by Ben Whedon

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld South Carolina’s ban on funding for Planned Parenthood for non-abortion services, notching a win for conservatives who have long hoped to strip the abortion provider of state financial support.

The justices voted 6-3 in favor of the ban, with Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch authoring the majority opinion. The ruling permits the state to bar Medicaid from issuing reimbursements to the organization for even non-abortion-related procedures and services, such as cancer screenings. The Court emphasized that the provision is part of a broader set of administrative guidelines for state Medicaid programs, not a clear mandate creating an enforceable individual right. As a result, South Carolina can exclude Planned Parenthood from its Medicaid program, and patients cannot use federal law to force the state to allow their choice of provider, leaving such disputes for lawmakers to address.

“At their best, individual suits under §1983 can vindicate plaintiffs’ rights while pushing States to fulfill their obligations,” Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote, noting that allowing individuals to sue can sometimes harm the public by forcing states to redirect funds and focus from social services to defending lawsuits.

“[B]alancing those costs and benefits poses a question of public policy that, under our system of government, only Congress may answer,” Gorsuch wrote.

In all, five separate opinions were published by the justices. The majority opinion was authored by Justice Gorsuch; with Justices Thomas, Barrett, and Kavanaugh offering three additional, concurring opinions. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson penned the sole dissenting opinion.

Planned Parenthood, primarily known as an abortion provider, regularly highlights its non-abortion-related services when under public scrutiny. The organization’s suit argued that the removal of their clinics from the state’s Medicaid roster ran afoul of patient rights to choose their providers.

The organization has struggled in the wake of the Dobbs v. Jackson decision that overturned the “constitutional right” to an abortion in 2022.

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Ben Whedon joined the Just the News team in March of 2022 after previously working as an editor and national security reporter for Breitbart News.
Photo “U.S. Supreme Court” by Adam Szuscik.

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