Supreme Court rejects challenge to Planned Parenthood funding

Source: Politico

The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected South Carolina’s request to reinstate its blockade on Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers, a move that could indicate the court’s conservative majority may be selective about abortion cases as a new member is expected to soon join its ranks.

The case is one the first major reproductive rights challenges the court has considered since the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg last month, and its rejection was announced on the second day of Senate hearings for President Donald Trump's nominee to the court, Amy Coney Barrett. Both sides of the abortion debate have been closely watching how aggressive the court’s conservatives will move to roll back abortion access with Barrett seemingly on track for confirmation later this month.

The case stems from South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster’s 2018 executive order barring enrollees of Medicaid, the low-income health insurance program, from receiving routine, non-abortion care from health care providers who also perform abortions. Planned Parenthood sued to block the Republican governor's order, and two lower federal courts agreed that the policy violated Medicaid enrollees’ rights to seek care from any qualified provider they choose. The state appealed to the Supreme Court earlier this year, arguing that it should have right to determine which providers are “qualified” to treat Medicaid patients.

South Carolina is one of several Republican-leaning states that sought to eliminate Medicaid funding for abortion providers in recent years. Two years ago, the Supreme Court turned away challenges to similar bans in Louisiana and Kansas. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh joined with the court’s four liberal justices at the time to reject those cases.

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