The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to take up South Carolina’s effort to cut off Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood because it performs abortions.
South Carolina moved in 2018 to cut off funding to Planned Parenthood, which the company states it uses for family planning rather than abortions. Medicaid does not pay for abortion except in cases when a pregnant woman’s life is at risk, or the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. The organization has said it gets less than $100,000 in South Carolina, one of many conservative states that sought to halt or reduce public funding for Planned Parenthood.
Lower courts blocked the move after a challenge from the organization and a patient, finding that federal law says patients may seek care at clinics of their own choosing.
"Taxpayer dollars should never fund abortion providers like Planned Parenthood," South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster said in a statement. "In 2018, I issued an executive order to end this practice in South Carolina. I’m confident the U.S. Supreme Court will agree with me that states shouldn’t be forced to subsidize abortions."
South Carolina bans abortions around six weeks of pregnancy.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.