Planned Parenthood has filed an updated legal challenge in South Carolina after the Supreme Court allowed the state to restrict federal Medicaid funding.
The lawsuit targets Gov. Henry McMaster’s (R) executive order blocking Medicaid funds from clinics that provide abortions, even though Medicaid does not reimburse for most abortions. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic (PPSAT), which runs two clinics in the state, says the order threatens access to cancer screenings, physicals, birth control, and STI testing.
“What started as a crusade against abortion has devolved into an even greater assault on essential, preventive care,” said Paige Johnson, PPSAT’s CEO.
Planned Parenthood first sued in 2018, but the Supreme Court ruled in June that individual Medicaid patients cannot sue to enforce their right to choose a provider, allowing South Carolina to move forward. Texas, Arkansas, and Missouri already bar Medicaid funds from Planned Parenthood, and more Republican-led states are expected to follow.
The amended complaint argues that cutting off Medicaid will devastate access to non-abortion health services, forcing clinics to turn patients away.
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