The U.S. Supreme Court will soon decide whether states can block Medicaid eligibility from health care providers who offer abortions, such as Planned Parenthood.
The high court agreed on December 18 to hear Kerr v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, in which the regional chapter of Planned Parenthood and an individual plaintiff sued South Carolina Health and Human Services Director Robert Kerr for removing the organization from designation as a Medicaid-designated provider in 2018.
On July 13, 2018, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster issued an executive order disqualifying abortion providers from providing services to Medicaid beneficiaries. That same day, the state notified Planned Parenthood South Atlantic it could continue as a Medicaid-designated provider only if it discontinued providing abortions, which it declined to do.
The petitioners appealing to the Supreme Court are current South Carolina DHHS Interim Director Eunice Medina, who succeeded Kerr, and Kerr’s former representation in the case, the legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF). The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit decided in April 2024 in favor of Planned Parenthood South Atlantic.
The Court is expected to hear arguments in late March or April of 2025, according to ADF spokeswoman Bernadette Tasy.
Government, Taxpayer Choice
At issue is state authority over South Carolina’s Medicaid programs and the use of federal tax dollars to support abortion.
“South Carolina is a pro-life state that protects babies with a heartbeat,” said Katie Glenn Daniel, director of legal affairs at Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. “The people of South Carolina should not be forced to subsidize the largest abortion business in the country, which performs painful late-term abortions.”
In 2023, McMaster signed into law Senate Bill 474, which prohibited abortion in the state after detection of a fetal heartbeat.
“We hope this case can facilitate the will of Americans who don’t want their taxpayer dollars to fund abortion businesses,” Daniel said.
Few Clinics Affected
Numerous options remain for those seeking Medicaid-funded health care providers in South Carolina, says Schandevel.
“There are hundreds of health care clinics that South Carolina provides funding to, with only two Planned Parenthoods losing Medicaid funding,” said ADF Senior Counsel Chris Schandevel. “ADF is proud to stand alongside South Carolina in ensuring that women receive real health care.”
With so many providers to choose from, Medicaid should not force South Carolina taxpayers who oppose abortion to have their tax money given to abortion providers, says Schandevel.
“States should defund Planned Parenthood and direct taxpayer dollars to medical clinics that provide real health care,” said Schandevel. “South Carolina has every right to spend its medical funding on federally qualified health care clinics that provide dozens of services and offer a continuity of care for their patients, as opposed to supporting Planned Parenthood’s business model of convincing women to have abortions.”
Dispute Over State Control
The underlying legal issue in Kerr v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic is whether states can decide what organizations they pay to provide services under Medicaid, as well as who can legally challenge those decisions.
“When Congress created the Medicaid program, it asked states to administer the funds and decide which doctors, hospitals, and other medical providers were qualified to provide services,” ADF Senior Counsel John Bursch said in the group’s press conference announcing the Supreme Court’s decision to hear the appeal.
“States often disqualify medical providers for a variety of reasons, including committing medical malpractice, disregarding safety standards, fraud, providing substandard care, abusing patients, and a failure to offer certain medical services, for example,” said Bursch.
South Carolina deemed Planned Parenthood unqualified for several of those reasons, “including that Planned Parenthood was failing to prioritize women’s health and safety,” Bursch told the press.
Deciding Who Is Qualified
Despite the “any-qualified provider” clause in the Medicaid Act allowing Medicaid-eligible beneficiaries free choice among qualified providers, the law did not give Medicaid recipients a right to sue states over their decisions about which providers to authorize, says Bursch.
“Congress did not unambiguously create a right for Medicaid recipients to drag states into federal court to challenge those decisions, so no such right exists,” said Bursch.
Harry Painter ([email protected]) writes from Oklahoma.
Internet Info
Alliance Defending Freedom, “Kerr Petition for Cert,” accessed January 7, 2025: https://adfmedialegalfiles.blob.core.windows.net/files/KerrPetitionForCert.pdf
Alliance Defending Freedom, “US Supreme Court to weigh in on taxpayer funding of abortion facilities,” December 18, 2024: https://adfmedia.org/case/medina-v-planned-parenthood-south-atlantic
