Supreme Court: States Can Cut Medicaid Funding to Planned Parenthood

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled South Carolina has the power to block Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood clinics, in a technical interpretation over healthcare choices that has emerged as a larger political fight over abortion access.

Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, centered on whether Medicaid beneficiaries, particularly low-income patients, are granted the right to choose their healthcare provider under the Medicaid Act's "any qualified provider" provision and can sue to enforce that right. 

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster had been pushing to block public health dollars from going to Planned Parenthood, but a resident and patient at Planned Parenthood South Atlantic argued that doing so violated her rights under the Medicaid Act. 

The opinion was 6 to 3, in line with the conservative advantage on the high court.