U.S. Supreme Court will hear case on South Carolina defunding Planned Parenthood
The United States Supreme Court has agreed to hear a six-year-old case about whether South Carolina can prevent Medicaid funds from covering non-abortion services at Planned Parenthood facilities and other abortion clinics.
On Wednesday, the justices announced they would take the case in their 2024-2025 term. The case stems from a lawsuit Planned Parenthood filed in 2018 after Gov. Henry McMaster blocked abortion clinics from receiving those funds through an executive order.
Under federal law, federal Medicaid funds cannot be used to pay for abortion unless the life of the mother is at risk or the pregnancy results from rape or incest. However, federal law does allow those funds to pay for other services at abortion clinics. The court’s ruling will determine whether states can prevent those funds from covering non-abortion services at those facilities.