“The Supreme Court’s decision in Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic to deny Medicaid beneficiaries their right to choose their health care providers is a grave injustice.
“At a time when health care is already costly and difficult to access, stripping patients of their right to high-quality, affordable health care at the provider of their choosing is a dangerous violation of bodily autonomy and reproductive freedom.
“Specifically targeting Planned Parenthood has long been a strategy of the anti-abortion movement. Planned Parenthood health centers are an irreplaceable part of the US health care system; Guttmacher data show that among the 4.7 million contraceptive patients served by publicly supported clinics in 2020, one in three received care from Planned Parenthood.
“The Court’s ruling will likely have ripple effects beyond South Carolina—other states could follow suit, especially those that have tried to ‘defund’ Planned Parenthood or otherwise cut it out of public programs.
“In the face of attempts to ‘defund’ Planned Parenthood and attack Medicaid, Title X and other pillars of reproductive health care, the Court's actions cannot be considered in a vacuum. This is a systematic decimation of access to reproductive health care and a signifier of what else is likely to come. Everyone deserves choice in their health care provider and access to the family planning they need.”