Critics of Planned Parenthood have long warned that even if federal money is supposedly not used for abortions—thanks to the Hyde Amendment—the organization’s other services funded by Medicaid only help to support its core abortion operation. For conservatives, this ruling strikes a blow at that tangled web of funding.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, however, dissented strongly, warning that the ruling guts long-standing civil rights protections.
“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,” she wrote. “The court abides South Carolina’s request. I would not.”
South Carolina moved to eliminate all funding to Planned Parenthood shortly after Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022. The state has since enacted a six-week abortion ban. With only two remaining Planned Parenthood locations in the entire state—Charleston and Columbia—abortion access has drastically shrunk in the wake of shifting legal tides.
Left-wing media outlets, like NBC News, tried to shift the focus to other services provided by Planned Parenthood, such as birth control, cancer screenings, and pregnancy testing. But critics see those offerings as a smokescreen designed to obscure the organization’s abortion-first mission.
One woman, Julie Edwards, who qualifies for Medicaid, had been one of the lead plaintiffs in a lawsuit that aimed to restore funding access to Planned Parenthood. She initially won her case in a lower court—but the Supreme Court’s decision shut that door once and for all.
The implications of this ruling go far beyond one state. Legal analysts say the case sets a precedent that could inspire more states to take action against organizations like Planned Parenthood, now that they’ve been given the green light to do so without interference from patient lawsuits.
And this is just one of several major rulings expected as the Supreme Court barrels toward its summer recess.
Among the most anticipated decisions: legal challenges to President Trump’s efforts to eliminate birthright citizenship, lawsuits over aggressive gun control measures in Democrat-led states, and the landmark battle over presidential immunity—all issues with enormous consequences heading into the 2024 election.
Earlier this month, the Court delivered another blow to progressive causes by ruling that minors do not have a constitutional right to receive transgender surgeries or hormone therapy. That decision sparked a frenzy within leftist circles, with LGBT groups now pointing fingers at each other over the failed strategy that led to the ruling.
And in another bold move, the Court ruled 7-2 in favor of California energy producers suing the Environmental Protection Agency. The companies claim new electric vehicle mandates are an unconstitutional assault on their industry—and the Court agreed to let their lawsuit move forward.
This Supreme Court term is shaping up to be one of the most consequential in recent memory—and if Thursday’s ruling is any indication, the momentum is clearly swinging in favor of conservative principles and constitutional limits on government power.
