(Oregon Right to Life) — The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday delivered a powerful victory to pro-life advocates, affirming that states have the right to exclude Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid funds. The move comes as the nation awaits a U.S. Senate vote on the federal budget reconciliation bill, which contains language cutting federal dollars to abortion providers.
The nation’s highest Court handed down the ruling in a 6-3 decision in Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic on June 26.
The decision reversed a previous Fourth Circuit Court ruling in favor of Planned Parenthood and an individual Medicaid recipient, who sued the state of South Carolina for excluding the abortion corporation. The ruling will have an impact beyond the borders of South Carolina, granting greater freedom for other states to bar Planned Parenthood from receiving funding from their Medicaid programs.
“We are grateful the Supreme Court has recognized the right of states to direct taxpayer dollars toward life-affirming healthcare providers,” National Right to Life President Carol Tobias said in a statement. “No one should be forced to subsidize the abortion industry with their tax dollars.”
“Today, the Supreme Court stood on the side of life, and we rejoice,” Tobias said. In the statement, National Right to Life noted that pro-life advocates nationwide have “celebrated the ruling as a decisive legal and moral victory.”
READ: Pro-Life Advocates Urge President Trump to Defund Planned Parenthood
According to the summary of the case included in the Court’s decision, South Carolina decided in 2018 that Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, which provides “a wide range of services to Medicaid and non-Medicaid patients and “also performs abortions,” would be restricted from participation in the state Medicaid program due to “state law prohibiting public funds for abortion.”
Planned Parenthood and Medicaid recipient Julie Edwards filed a class action lawsuit “to vindicate rights secured by the federal Medicaid statutes,” alleging that South Carolina’s prohibition “violated the any-qualified-provider provision.”
But while a district court granted summary judgment in favor of Edwards’ complaint and the Fourth Circuit Court affirmed the decision, the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday rejected the lower courts’ interpretations of “rights” allegedly guaranteed by Medicaid statutes.
In the majority opinion, Justice Neil Gorsuch stated that Medicaid law does not confer a “clear and unambiguous” right for plaintiffs to sue over alleged federal spending power violations.
“Because the Fourth Circuit concluded otherwise, its judgment is reversed and the case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion,” Gorsuch wrote.
In a concurring opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas said the Court “correctly holds today” that South Carolina was within its rights to restrict Medicaid dollars from Planned Parenthood, and that the Court’s Thursday decision was one which “I join in full.”
The decision by the U.S. Supreme Court is likely to have a big impact on Planned Parenthood, as well as states across the country whose leaders are motivated to slash funding for abortion providers to protect women and the unborn.
In a June 26 statement, Planned Parenthood highlighted the fact that, “[w]hile the immediate impact of this decision is limited to South Carolina, other states could move” to similarly block funding to abortion providers.
Planned Parenthood Federation of America President and CEO Alexis McGill Johnson also observed in the statement that the decision comes as, “right now, lawmakers in Congress are trying to ‘defund’ Planned Parenthood as part of their long-term goal to shut down Planned Parenthood and ban abortion nationwide.”
As McGill Johnson noted, the Thursday ruling precedes an imminent vote from the U.S. Senate on the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill,” the federal budget reconciliation bill that contains language reoving federal funding from Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers.
Planned Parenthood, which performs roughly 400,000 abortions every year, currently derives approximately 40% of its annual revenue from federal grants and reimbursements. According to its official 2023–2024 report, Planned Parenthood brought in more than $2 billion in revenue during the year, $792.2 million (39%) of which came from the federal government. During the same period, the abortion giant reported performing 402,230 abortions.
READ: Bill That Would Defund Planned Parenthood Awaits US Senate Approval
Pro-life advocates, eager to see Planned Parenthood defunded at the federal level, have nevertheless recognized that efforts to push back against Planned Parenthood will need to continue even beyond the anticipated defunding at the federal level.
States that support abortion are anticipated to allocate additional funds to bolster Planned Parenthood in the event of federal defunding. For example, Oregon’s biennial spending bill will provide an additional $10 million to its Oregon Health Authority (OHA) budget to offset the withdrawal of federal dollars to Planned Parenthood.
Despite this, the Supreme Court’s Thursday decision is seen as a significant victory for pro-life advocates, as it will provide further freedom for states to resist Planned Parenthood – thereby protecting unborn lives and helping direct women and families to life-affirming options.
Oregon Right to Life believes in the sanctity of all human life from the moment of conception to natural death. Abortion ends the life of a genetically distinct, growing human being. We oppose abortion at any point of gestation. Read this and all our position statements here.
