The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled 6–3 in favor of South Carolina’s decision to exclude Medicaid funds from going to Planned Parenthood, reversing a lower court decision that had allowed a civil rights lawsuit over the issue to proceed.
At the center of the case was whether individual Medicaid patients can sue under federal law when states block access to certain providers. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals had previously ruled that they could, but the Supreme Court rejected that position, siding with South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster’s effort to cut off Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood clinics in the state.
Writing for the majority, Justice Neil Gorsuch said that federal Medicaid law does not clearly give individuals the right to sue under Section 1983 of the Civil Rights Act of 1871.
“Section 1983 permits private plaintiffs to sue for violations of federal spending-power statutes only in ‘atypical’ situations … where the provision in question ‘clear[ly]’ and ‘unambiguous[ly]’ confers an individual ‘right,’” Justice Gorsuch wrote.
“After all, the decision whether to let private plaintiffs enforce a new statutory right poses delicate questions of public policy,” Gorsuch added. “New rights for some mean new duties for others. And private enforcement actions, meritorious or not, can force governments to direct money away from public services and spend it instead on litigation. The job of resolving how best to weigh those competing costs and benefits belongs to the people’s elected representatives, not unelected judges charged with applying the law as they find it.”
The dispute arose after McMaster had been pushing to block Medicaid funds from going to Planned Parenthood, as he had previously argued that “taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize abortion providers who are in direct opposition to their beliefs.” A South Carolina resident challenged the move, citing a Medicaid provision that guarantees patients the “free choice of provider” if the provider is qualified and willing.
Although federal law already restricts Medicaid funds from being used for most abortions, Planned Parenthood clinics in South Carolina often serve low-income patients using publicly funded insurance for other health services.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented, calling the majority opinion “a narrow and ahistorical reading” of Section 1983.
“That venerable provision permits any citizen to obtain redress in federal court for ‘the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws’ of the United States,” Jackson wrote. “South Carolina asks us to hollow out that provision so that the State can evade liability for violating the rights of its Medicaid recipients to choose their own doctors.”
Following the ruling, McMaster celebrated the outcome, saying, “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.”
