The United States Supreme Court has announced it will hear Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, a case represented by Alliance Defending Freedom, that could decide whether pro-life states can direct Medicaid funds away from abortion providers like Planned Parenthood.
What is Alliance Defending Freedom?
Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, marriage and family, and the sanctity of life.
Alliance Defending Freedom Church & Ministry Alliance is a specialized division that offers legal services specifically for religious organizations. This branch focuses on protecting religious institutions’ rights and freedoms so that they can operate according to their faith and beliefs.
The case centers on South Carolina’s attempt to disqualify Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid funding within the state. After South Carolina moved to terminate Planned Parenthood’s status as a qualified Medicaid provider, a federal district court intervened, mandating the state to restore the organization’s funding.
The center of the legal debate is whether the Medicaid Act grants recipients the right to challenge a state’s decisions about provider qualification in federal court. Alliance Defending Freedom argues that Congress never explicitly created such a right.
The case follows Alliance Defending Freedom’s earlier involvement in Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County v. Talevski, where they filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of South Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services. In both cases, Alliance Defending Freedom has urged the Court to “clear up confusion in its caselaw” regarding private rights of action under federal spending legislation.
Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys have consistently argued that states should have this authority, with Chris Schandevel, ADF Senior Counsel, stating, “Because Congress didn’t explicitly create a right for Medicaid recipients to drag states into federal court to challenge those decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court should make clear that no such right exists.”
In a statement on Alliance Defending Freedom Media, ADF Senior Counsel and Vice President of Appellate Advocacy John Bursch said, “Taxpayer dollars should never be used to fund facilities that make a profit off abortion.
“Pro-life states like South Carolina should be free to determine that Planned Parenthood and other entities that peddle abortion are not qualified to receive taxpayer funding through Medicaid. Congress did not unambiguously create a right for Medicaid recipients to drag states into federal court to challenge those decisions, so no such right exists. Applying the Supreme Court’s recent decision in the Talevski case, we expect the court to hold that Congress did not intend to allow federal courts to second guess states’ decisions about which providers are qualified to receive Medicaid funding,” Bursch said.
The case’s outcome could likely have broad implications for states’ control over Medicaid funding and their ability to exclude abortion providers from their programs.