The Supreme Court seems divided on the question of whether states can cut the financing of Planned Parenthood

By Lindsay Whitehurst

Washington (AP) – The Supreme Court seemed to be divided Wednesday on the question of whether the states should be able to cut funding from Medicaid to Planned Parenthood, a case that occurs in the midst of a broader thrust of abortion of abortion to finance the main supplier of abortion of the country.

Low -income patients go there for things like contraception, cancer screening and pregnancy tests could see their care upset if the court is associated with the leaders of South Carolina who say that no public money should go to the organization.

The court envisages a legal question which could have wider effects: if Medicaid patients can continue to continue on the right to choose their own qualified supplier.

South Carolina claims that these prosecution is not authorized and that prohibiting them would save money from the public in legal costs. Some conservatives seemed open to this argument, the Brett Kavanaugh judge saying that there was confusion among the lower courts. “One of my objectives that will result from it will be to relaunch this clarity,” said Kavanaugh.

The state claims that people could go through an administrative call process if we refuse coverage, although judge Amy CONEY BARRETT has raised questions about the question of whether it would work for low -income patients who should risk paying for his pocket before being able to call for reimbursement.

Planned Parenthood argues that Congress clearly wanted people to make their own “intensely personal” decisions concerning the doctor to visit, and prosecution is the only real way in which the law has been applied.

Judge Elena Kagan agreed that patients have the right to choose their doctor under the law and suggested that preventing them from continuing would be a sea change. “It is somehow to change the rules in the middle, isn’t it?” Said Kagan.

People on both sides of the question gathered outside the court for demonstrations which included a brass band before the arguments take place.

The case began in 2018, before the court’s decision, which canceled the national right to abortion. South Carolina has since prohibited after about six weeks of gestation.

The federal law prohibits Medicaid Money from being used for abortions, very limited exceptions, but patients often go there for other services, because it can be difficult to find doctors who accept the insurance program funded by the public and may make appointments quickly.

Other conservative states have also decided to reduce Planned Parenthood outside the Medicaid program, and others would probably follow if the South Carolina prevails.

In the United States, about a quarter of all the United States is registered in the program, and the American Cancer Society said that losing the ability to continue to harm their access to care, especially in rural areas.

In Southern Carolina, $ 90,000 in MEDICAIDE financing go to Planned Parenthood each year – a tiny fraction of a percentage point of total state Medicaid expenses.

Originally published: April 2, 2025 at 11:14 PDT