MFL President Says Decision Should be “a bellwether for other state leaders who want to prioritize the well-being of women and their children”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Thursday June 26, 2025

Contact: Prudence de Bernardo, [email protected], 240-672-2828

Washington, D.C. – This morning, the decision of the United States Supreme Court in Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic confirmed that states like South Carolina can choose to defund abortion providers from their state Medicaid programs. This aligns with South Carolina law, which prevents the use of taxpayer dollars to pay for abortions so that those dollars can be more readily used to fund health, not harm. The opinion of the Court by Justice Neil Gorsuch is a reversal of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals decision regarding whether an individual Medicaid beneficiary can challenge a state’s decision to block its taxpayers’ dollars from going to abortion providers. The Court holds today that the Medicaid statute does not authorize an individual beneficiary to bring a federal civil rights lawsuit to challenge the state’s decision.

Detailed legal analysis is forthcoming from March for Life president Jennie Bradley Lichter, Esq., who this morning issued the following comment:

Today’s ruling gives states a clear path to preventing their taxpayers’ dollars from funding the abortion industry. This ruling is a victory for the women and families of South Carolina who will now more readily have access to truly excellent healthcare, provided by the 140 high-quality, authentic Medicaid providers in the state. It’s also a victory for the rule of law. The Supreme Court rightly held that the Medicaid statute does not authorize a single individual to unilaterally overrule the considered judgment of the people’s elected leaders about how taxpayer dollars should be spent.

South Carolina’s decision that abortion providers are not qualified to receive Medicaid dollars – now insulated from politically-motivated legal challenges – is a model for other state leaders in how to prioritize authentic healthcare for women, protect the rights of the unborn, and keep their taxpayers’ dollars from propping up the abortion industry.

March for Life was proud to lead a rally outside the Supreme Court during oral arguments in this case to show the strong grassroots support for the ability of states to choose health, not harm.”

To schedule an interview with Jennie Bradley Lichter, reach out to Prudence de Bernardo at [email protected] or 240-672-2828.

A recent New York Times report in which more than 50 Planned Parenthood executives and staff from across the country were surveyed revealed:

–Numerous examples of botched care, including an inability to administer basic STD testing and accidentally placing an IUD in a pregnant woman, killing her child

-Haphazard operation of facilities leading to patients being prepped for the wrong procedure and some were even administered expired pain medication

-Patients commonly being treated by “undertrained staff members”

-The organization’s bylaws direct the majority of the hundreds of millions of dollars in donations they receive to political campaigns, not medical care

A South Carolina statute prohibits the use of taxpayer funds to pay for abortions. Accordingly, in June 2018 South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster directed the South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (SCDHHS) to deem abortion facilities unqualified to receive Medicaid funding unless they stopped performing abortions, impacting Planned Parenthood centers. Planned Parenthood and an individual Medicaid beneficiary sued the SCDHHS, and following litigation in the lower courts, the state appealed the case to the Supreme Court. Oral argument was held on April 2nd, while March for Life led a rally outside the Court.

CONTACT: Pesch Strategy I Prudence de Bernardo

[email protected]

240-672-2828

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March for Life is a non-sectarian organization that promotes the beauty and dignity of every human life by working to end abortion – uniting, educating, and mobilizing pro-life people in the public square. It hosts the world’s largest annual human rights demonstration in Washington, DC every January.