Amy Friedrich-Karnik (Director of Federal Policy) explains the Medina v. Planned Parenthood Supreme Court Case

Transcript: On April 2, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic. This case is about Planned Parenthood's ability to provide critical health care. It's about people's ability to access contraception.  

It's about Medicaid recipients being able to see the health care provider they choose. In this case, the Supreme Court will decide whether people with Medicaid can go to court to defend their rights if a state like South Carolina tries to block them from accessing health care at Planned Parenthood health centers.  

This could have far-reaching consequences. Medicaid provides health insurance to people living with low incomes and plays a critical role in providing coverage for reproductive health care services. These include things like STI testing, contraception, cancer screenings—things that people otherwise might not be able to afford. And our research here at Guttmacher shows that Planned Parenthoods provide exceptional care. They prioritize their patients' needs and meet them where they're at.  

Blocking Medicaid recipients from accessing care at Planned Parenthood would harm people from marginalized communities who already face barriers to care. Medicaid covers nearly one in five people in South Carolina and because of our country's long history of systemic racism, almost six in 10 of them are People of Color. What we're witnessing here is another attempt to chip away at bodily autonomy by trying to dictate what provider a person can or cannot see.  

The bottom line? People using Medicaid insurance should be able to access high-quality, affordable health care at the provider of their choosing. And Planned Parenthood should be able to provide that care.