{"id":33148,"date":"2025-01-08T16:58:36","date_gmt":"2025-01-08T16:58:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/?p=33148"},"modified":"2025-01-08T16:58:37","modified_gmt":"2025-01-08T16:58:37","slug":"supreme-court-to-hear-planned-parenthood-defunding-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/supreme-court-to-hear-planned-parenthood-defunding-case\/","title":{"rendered":"Supreme Court to Hear Planned Parenthood Defunding Case"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By: Carolyn McDonnell, J.D., originally published December 20, 2024 Americans United for Life<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Supreme Court agreed to review\u00a0Kerr v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic<\/a><\/em>, a case concerning Medicaid defunding of Planned Parenthood. The outcome of the case will impact states\u2019 powers to protect women and unborn children from abortion businesses, taxpayers\u2019\u00a0conscientious objections to abortion<\/a>, and the public funding of authentic women\u2019s health care.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kerr v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 2018,\u00a0South Carolina<\/a>\u00a0Governor Henry McMaster issued an executive order recognizing the state\u2019s public policy of\u00a0protecting unborn children<\/a>\u00a0and supporting genuine women\u2019s health and family planning services. The executive order determined that abortion businesses\u2019 primary work subverts this public policy. Accordingly, Governor McMaster directed the South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services to consider abortion businesses \u201cunqualified\u201d to provide family planning services under the Medicaid program. This executive order terminated Medicaid funding for abortion businesses.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Planned Parenthood sued the Director of the state health department. The district court permanently blocked the executive order, prohibiting South Carolina from withdrawing Planned Parenthood\u2019s Medicaid funding. The Fourth Circuit affirmed this decision, exacerbating the circuit split over the interpretation of the any-qualified-provider provision in the Medicaid Act. After previously denying two petitions for a writ of certiorari<\/em> in this litigation, the Supreme Court now has agreed to review the case. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Question the Supreme Court Will Answer in Kerr<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Supreme Court is hearing the case solely to answer one question on statutory interpretation: whether the Medicaid Act\u2019s any-qualified-provider provision unambiguously confers a private right upon a Medicaid beneficiary to choose a specific provider. As part of this issue, the Court will analyze private rights of action\u2014the ability of certain parties to sue to vindicate their statutory rights and interests\u2014within Spending Clause legislation. The case raises broader questions of abortion funding restrictions and states\u2019 powers to establish\u00a0pro-life policy<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abortion Funding Restrictions Are Critical<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Abortion funding restrictions are critical for social welfare appropriations.\u00a0Abortion is a contentious issue<\/a>, and a\u00a0majority<\/a>\u00a0of Americans oppose using their tax dollars to fund abortion. In this regard, funding restrictions are an important safeguard for taxpayers\u2019 conscience rights. They also have the practical effect of removing the abortion issue from the scope of appropriations, thus facilitating the passage of important social welfare legislation.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another benefit of abortion funding restrictions is the ability to funnel support to genuine women\u2019s health care and family planning services. When the government funds abortion businesses, it is essentially subsidizing elective abortions. This is a critical issue because it subverts pro-life policies and channels funds away from authentic health care. Ultimately, this diminishes women\u2019s access to necessary health care services. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Battle for Life Continues<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Supreme Court may have returned the abortion issue to the democratic process in\u00a0Dobbs v. Jackson Women\u2019s Health Organization<\/a><\/em>, but\u00a0states still are fighting<\/a>\u00a0to enforce their pro-life policies. The Medicaid Act\u2019s any-qualified-provider provision has presented an ongoing issue for states that refuse to fund businesses that provide elective abortions. The Supreme Court\u2019s decision to hear this case is a step in the right direction for states to fully protect human life from abortion violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carolyn McDonnell, J.D., serves as Litigation Counsel at Americans United for Life.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By: Carolyn McDonnell, J.D., originally published December 20, 2024 Americans United for Life The Supreme Court agreed to review\u00a0Kerr v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, a case concerning Medicaid defunding of Planned Parenthood. The outcome of the case will impact states\u2019 powers to protect women and unborn children from abortion businesses, taxpayers\u2019\u00a0conscientious objections to abortion, and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33149,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nSupreme Court to Hear Planned Parenthood Defunding Case - Cincinnati Right to Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/supreme-court-to-hear-planned-parenthood-defunding-case\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Supreme Court to Hear Planned Parenthood Defunding Case - Cincinnati Right to Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By: Carolyn McDonnell, J.D., originally published December 20, 2024 Americans United for Life The Supreme Court agreed to review\u00a0Kerr v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, a case concerning Medicaid defunding of Planned Parenthood. The outcome of the case will impact states\u2019 powers to protect women and unborn children from abortion businesses, taxpayers\u2019\u00a0conscientious objections to abortion, and…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/supreme-court-to-hear-planned-parenthood-defunding-case\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cincinnati Right to Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-01-08T16:58:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-01-08T16:58:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/SCOTUS-to-hear-defunding-case-1.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Melanie Wade\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Melanie Wade\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/supreme-court-to-hear-planned-parenthood-defunding-case\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/supreme-court-to-hear-planned-parenthood-defunding-case\/\",\"name\":\"Supreme Court to Hear Planned Parenthood Defunding Case - Cincinnati Right to Life\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/supreme-court-to-hear-planned-parenthood-defunding-case\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/supreme-court-to-hear-planned-parenthood-defunding-case\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/SCOTUS-to-hear-defunding-case-1.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-01-08T16:58:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-01-08T16:58:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/9a5fe1347253fa134f21cdb919caf789\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/supreme-court-to-hear-planned-parenthood-defunding-case\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/supreme-court-to-hear-planned-parenthood-defunding-case\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/supreme-court-to-hear-planned-parenthood-defunding-case\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/SCOTUS-to-hear-defunding-case-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/SCOTUS-to-hear-defunding-case-1.png\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/supreme-court-to-hear-planned-parenthood-defunding-case\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Supreme Court to Hear Planned Parenthood Defunding Case\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/\",\"name\":\"Cincinnati Right to Life\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/9a5fe1347253fa134f21cdb919caf789\",\"name\":\"Melanie Wade\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7ec3fd7a1977f4be962597ccc3e12001?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7ec3fd7a1977f4be962597ccc3e12001?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Melanie Wade\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/author\/mwade\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Supreme Court to Hear Planned Parenthood Defunding Case - Cincinnati Right to Life","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/supreme-court-to-hear-planned-parenthood-defunding-case\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Supreme Court to Hear Planned Parenthood Defunding Case - Cincinnati Right to Life","og_description":"By: Carolyn McDonnell, J.D., originally published December 20, 2024 Americans United for Life The Supreme Court agreed to review\u00a0Kerr v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, a case concerning Medicaid defunding of Planned Parenthood. The outcome of the case will impact states\u2019 powers to protect women and unborn children from abortion businesses, taxpayers\u2019\u00a0conscientious objections to abortion, and…","og_url":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/supreme-court-to-hear-planned-parenthood-defunding-case\/","og_site_name":"Cincinnati Right to Life","article_published_time":"2025-01-08T16:58:36+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-01-08T16:58:37+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":600,"url":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/SCOTUS-to-hear-defunding-case-1.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Melanie Wade","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Melanie Wade","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/supreme-court-to-hear-planned-parenthood-defunding-case\/","url":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/supreme-court-to-hear-planned-parenthood-defunding-case\/","name":"Supreme Court to Hear Planned Parenthood Defunding Case - Cincinnati Right to Life","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/supreme-court-to-hear-planned-parenthood-defunding-case\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/supreme-court-to-hear-planned-parenthood-defunding-case\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/SCOTUS-to-hear-defunding-case-1.png","datePublished":"2025-01-08T16:58:36+00:00","dateModified":"2025-01-08T16:58:37+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/9a5fe1347253fa134f21cdb919caf789"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/supreme-court-to-hear-planned-parenthood-defunding-case\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/supreme-court-to-hear-planned-parenthood-defunding-case\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/supreme-court-to-hear-planned-parenthood-defunding-case\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/SCOTUS-to-hear-defunding-case-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/SCOTUS-to-hear-defunding-case-1.png","width":1200,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/supreme-court-to-hear-planned-parenthood-defunding-case\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Supreme Court to Hear Planned Parenthood Defunding Case"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/","name":"Cincinnati Right to Life","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/9a5fe1347253fa134f21cdb919caf789","name":"Melanie Wade","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7ec3fd7a1977f4be962597ccc3e12001?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7ec3fd7a1977f4be962597ccc3e12001?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Melanie Wade"},"url":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/author\/mwade\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33148"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33148\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33150,"href":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33148\/revisions\/33150"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cincinnatirighttolife.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}