(DCNF)—The Supreme Court is set to consider on Wednesday whether states can restrict Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid dollars.
The case, which stems from South Carolina’s effort in 2018 to end Planned Parenthood’s participation in its Medicaid program, could clear the way for more states to eliminate taxpayer funding for the abortion provider as it faces mounting financial struggles.
“All the money that Planned Parenthood gets from the South Carolina Medicaid program to pay for overhead are monies that it can then use to perform more abortions,” Alliance Defending Freedom senior counsel John Bursch, who will be arguing the case on the state’s behalf, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “The people of South Carolina don’t want to subsidize an abortion provider, just as most people around the country do not.”
Planned Parenthood claims the state violated the free-choice-of provider provision in the Medicaid Act. South Carolina argues the provision doesn’t give them grounds to sue.
A New York Times investigation into Planned Parenthood in February exposed its poor quality of care, highlighting instances of botched abortions and what one former staff member called a “conveyor belt” approach to treating patients that stems from pressure to bring in more revenue. Former Planned Parenthood nurse Grace Larson told the NYT it was not uncommon for patients to be prepared for the wrong procedure, noting employees sometimes even administered the wrong or expired medications.
Despite a spike in donations since the overturning of Roe v. Wade — including $498 million in 2022 alone — Planned Parenthood spends most of the money on political and legal fights to defend abortion, not resource-strapped local clinics, the NYT reported.
Planned Parenthood of Greater New York announced March 19 that it would close down its only Manhattan clinic due to financial difficulties. Four other centers in the state closed, and it stopped offering abortions past 20 weeks at the Manhattan clinic last August to cut costs.
The Trump administration plans to freeze some federal family planning funds for Planned Parenthood, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.
Planned Parenthood offers a “wide range of services, including physical exams; cancer screenings; contraception; pregnancy testing and counseling; and screenings for conditions such as diabetes, depression, anemia, high cholesterol, thyroid disorders, and high blood pressure,” they argue.
Abortion is not the only objection states may have to Planned Parenthood, though it is the focus of the case. Planned Parenthood is now the second-largest provider of gender transition drugs.
“Since 2010, their cancer screening and prevention services have dropped 71%, their breast exams have declined 72%, pap smears have declined 74%. Just in one year, from 2022 to 2023, their preventative care visits fell 31%,” Bursch told the DCNF. “What they’re really good at is abortions, contraception and dangerous gender transition drugs. There are plenty of other places that people can go in South Carolina that are Medicaid approved that will provide much more comprehensive services.”
More than half of U.S. states have passed laws restricting transgender procedures for children, an issue that is also pending before the Supreme Court.
Planned Parenthood has also made inroads into public schools through its sex ed programs and LGBTQ activism. It’s received millions in federal funding to implement its sex education through the Teen Pregnancy Prevention program.
A Planned Parenthood affiliate in Pennsylvania received COVID-19 relief funds to host after school LGBTQ clubs and events like a “queer prom,” the DCNF previously reported.
The question in South Carolina’s case has divided federal appeals courts. If the state wins, others may follow its lead in stripping Medicaid funding from Planned Parenthood.
“Once the court opens the door for states to do this, I think many of them will walk through, because the fact is, the vast majority of people do not want their taxpayer dollars going to support abortion providers,” Bursch said.
Planned Parenthood did not respond to a request for comment.
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