The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear a dispute over South Carolina’s effort to keep Planned Parenthood facilities from receiving Medicaid funding, the latest step in the state’s yearslong battle to defund the provider because it offers abortion care.
The case, known as Kerr v. Edwards, could determine states’ ability to deny funding to Medicaid providers over issues such as abortion. The justices agreed in Wednesday’s unsigned order to hear one portion of the dispute: whether the Medicaid law establishes a federal right for beneficiaries to receive care at the qualified provider of their choice regardless of a state policy decision.
South Carolina argued that Congress never meant to create an individual federal right to a choice of a Medicaid provider and urged the justices to overturn a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit keeping Planned Parenthood in the program.
