PHILADELPHIA — Pennsylvania's high court is weighing whether a state rule prohibiting low-income people from paying for abortions with state-funded health insurance violates their equal rights and discriminates against women.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Wednesday heard oral arguments in a case over whether Medicaid can pay for abortions for low-income people. Activists have also asked the justices to recognize a right to an abortion in the state constitution, months after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that there is no such right under the U.S. Constitution.
Pennsylvania's Medicaid program, the state and federally funded health plan for low-income people, currently covers abortion only in instances of rape, incest, and to save a woman's life.
