Planned Parenthood files legal challenge in South Carolina to protect Medicaid funding


A new legal challenge of Planned Parenthood seeks to preserve Medicaid payments for its health centers in South Carolina after a decision of the Supreme Court endangered federal funds.

On Thursday, Planned Parenthood South Atlantic filed a complaint amended in a federal court challenging the constitutionality of the executive orders of Republican governor Henry McMaster that blocks Medicaid reimbursements for organizations that provide abortions, despite the fact that the The funds are used to provide other medical care. South Carolina Clinics provide services such as contraception, cancer exams, annual exams and sexually transmitted disease tests.

“This case is about the provision of essential medical care services of Planned Parenthood, other than abortionTo his patients in South Carolina “, he establishes the complaint, noting that ending the Medicaid supplier” will have a devastating impact on his ability to provide a wide range of medical care does not abort. ”

The action of the State is especially harmful because many counties lack ob-ginn suppliers, the complaint, and some suppliers are reluctant to accept Medicaid due to their low reimbursement rates.

“Our government should expand to Medicaid suppliers, recruit Medicaid suppliers instead of kicking them,” said Vicki Ringer, Planned Parenthood South Atlantic spokesman, which serves South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and Virginia Western.

The General Assembly of South Carolina has tried to defuse Planned Parenthood.Traveler1116 / Getty Images / Istockphoto

A Medicaid patient in South Carolina demanded as a result of McMaster 2018 Executive order in a case that reached the Supreme Court. In June, the judges ruled that Medicaid beneficiaries could not sue to guarantee a specific supplier, which supports the impulse of the State to block Planned Parenthood to receive funds from Medicaid.

This new battle occurs when the national organization is also trying to defend part of a new federal law that would prohibit Planned Parenthood clinics from invoicing medical for patient care. A federal judge has temporarily blocked that willingness to enter into force.

But that order was not applied to actions at the state level such as those of South Carolina. According to Planned Parenthood, three other states, Missouri, Texas and Arkansas, have already managed to prohibit the financing of the group’s medical.

Planned Parenthood South Atlantic filed the complaint against Eunice Medina, director of the Department of Human Health and Human Services of the South Carolina, which manages the State Medical Program.

The provider is asking the court to find the executive orders of McMaster unconstitutional together with the state appropriation invoices that will highlight the organization. The lawyers are also asking the court to allow Planned Parenthood to continue receiving payments from Medicaid as the case progresses.

Neither Medina nor McMaster could be contacted immediately to comment.

McMaster previously praised the ruling of the Supreme Court, saying that his administration “took a position to protect the holiness of life and defend the authority and values ​​of South Carolina.”

Henry McMete
The governor of South Carolina, Henry McMaster, signed executive orders that block Medicaid reimbursements for organizations that provide abortions.Liesa Johannssen / Bloomberg through the Getty Images file

Planned Parenthood has two clinics in the state, in Charleston and Columbia. Although they provide abortions in South Carolina, with rare exceptions, Medicaid funds cannot be legally used for the procedure, which is only legal in the state in the first six weeks of pregnancy, in certain medical emergencies and In cases of violation and incest.

Last year, the organization said that its South Carolina clinics saw almost 400 patients with Medicaid, providing a variety of medical care services. The complaint warns that patients with Medicaid can give up care if Planned Parenthood is forced to reject patients in a state that already fights with bleak health results, including a high maternal mortality rate.

“For women in South Carolina, public health care is a matter of life or death,” says the presentation.

In addition to the damage to the patients, the defenders argue, which allows the funds to be restricted for the suppliers based on their support for abortion rights, opens the door to politicians to cut funds based on other services that a supplier could offer, such as gender statement care.

“We all deserve the dignity of being able to choose our doctor,” Ringer said, “and we are not denied the choice of a doctor for a political agenda.”



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