Planned Parenthood

Supreme Court rules against states in defunding cases

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to take up a Planned parenthood funding case that could have implications in both Arkansas and Texas. Like several states in recent years. Kansas and Louisiana had cut off Planned Parenthood from Medicaid funding.

It was a political move. While many equate Planned Parenthood with abortion, the organization provides many different health care services as well. Federal law requires Medicaid patients be allowed to seek care from the qualified provider of their choice. So Kansas and Louisiana wound up in court trying to defend their defunding of what is, in some cases, the only qualified provider for low-income women for miles around.

And they lost. Lower federal courts issued injunctions prohibiting the defundings. So the states appealed to nation’s highest court.

And Conservative Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh joined the court’s liberal wing in letting the lower court rulings stand.

This is interesting since it contrasts with the situation in Arkansas. The Natural State cut funding for Planned Parenthood and that decision has so far withstood court challenges, with the Eight Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals saying in July the “provider of choice” requirement is not really enforceable on an individual basis. The high court seems to have rejected that argument, which could give Planned Parenthood a new path to overturning the funding cuts.

Texas cut Planned Parenthood funding a few years back and now is scrambling to provide medical care to low-income women. The state has also seen a rise in births to Medicaid patients as free or affordable contraception has become less available. Texas lawmakers might welcome a successful challenge as it would give them deniability—always helpful come election time—and take some of the pressure off.

Stay tuned.