The Supreme Court on Thursday said individual Medicaid recipients do not have a right to sue over their state’s decision to cut off Planned Parenthood from the government-funded health insurance program for low-income residents.
The 6-3 decision, which broke along ideological lines, was a significant victory for conservative efforts to defund the private health clinic network, clearing the way for other states to follow suit.
“The Supreme Court rightly restored the ability of states like South Carolina to steward limited public resources to best serve their citizens,” said John Bursch, the attorney who defended South Carolina before the high court.
Planned Parenthood draws more than a third of its revenue from government grants, contracts and Medicaid reimbursements for non-abortion care, like cancer screenings and contraception treatments.
“Today’s decision is a grave injustice that strikes at the very bedrock of American freedom and promises to send South Carolina deeper into a health care crisis,” Planned Parenthood South Atlantic president Paige Johnson said in a statement.
The organization, which said it has served more than 50,000 state Medicaid beneficiaries so far this year, vowed to continue operations at its two South Carolina clinics.
Source- ABC
