The U.S. Supreme Court ruled today that states like South Carolina may exclude abortion providers like Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid funds.

Medicaid, which helps cover medical costs for people with limited incomes, is a joint federal and state program, with the federal government generally providing about 57% of the funding and the states providing the rest. Each state must satisfy a number of conditions in order to qualify for the program, one of which is to ensure that any individual eligible for assistance may obtain it from any provider that is qualified and willing to provide it.

Each state determines which providers are qualified to receive funds, and South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, in accord with state laws that prohibit tax dollars from being used for abortion, determined in 2018 that abortion providers are not qualified to receive Medicaid funds, even for non-abortion services they may provide.

Planned Parenthood and one of its patients sued, claiming that the state was violating the condition that any qualified provider may provide the services.

The court’s decision rested not on determining whether Planned Parenthood is actually qualified or not—the court left that up to the states—but whether individuals may sue state officials in a situation like this.

In a 6-3 decision that reversed the rulings of a federal district court and the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, the Supreme Court held that although there are cases where private parties have the right to sue a state for violations of federal spending-power laws, the Medicaid statute is not one of them. The majority opinion, written by Justice Neil Gorsuch, pointed out that Congress could have easily written such a right into the Medicaid law, as it has with others, but it did not do so.

John Bursch, senior counsel and vice president of appellate advocacy with Alliance Defending Freedom, responded to the court’s decision.

“States should be free to fund real, comprehensive care and exclude organizations like Planned Parenthood that profit off abortion and distribute dangerous gender-transition drugs to minors,” he said. “The American people don’t want their tax dollars propping up the abortion industry. The Supreme Court rightly restored the ability of states like South Carolina to steward limited public resources to best serve their citizens.”

McMaster said in a statement: “Seven years ago, we took a stand to protect the sanctity of life and defend South Carolina’s authority and values—and today, we are finally victorious. The legality of my executive order prohibiting taxpayer dollars from being used to fund abortion providers like Planned Parenthood has been affirmed by the highest court in the land.”

Above: South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, left, shakes the hand of attorney John Bursch of Alliance Defending Freedom following oral arguments at the Supreme Court.

Photo: Alliance Defending Freedom