Attorney General Phil Weiser urges U.S. Supreme Court to protect Medicaid patient access to reproductive health care
March 12, 2025 (DENVER) – Attorney General Phil Weiser today joined 10 other attorneys general in urging the U.S. Supreme Court to affirm a lower court’s decision recognizing the individual rights of Medicaid patients to receive care from the qualified providers of their choice, including Planned Parenthood.
“Over one million of our friends, coworkers, and neighbors rely on Medicaid for health care, including for key reproductive health services like health screenings and birth control,” said Weiser. “Coloradans overwhelmingly support reproductive health care. Everyone should have the freedom to decide which providers to visit, including Planned Parenthood, and I am committed to defending Coloradans’ access to the health care they need.”
In 2018, a Medicaid patient filed a lawsuit challenging a South Carolina executive order forbidding Medicaid patients from receiving care from any organization that provides abortion services. At trial, a federal district court ruled that the state’s exclusion of Planned Parenthood was unlawful. In March 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed the trial court’s decision, holding that the Medicaid Act gives patients the freedom to choose their own qualified health care providers. South Carolina sought review in the Supreme Court, which will hear the case next month.
Medicaid ensures Americans have safe, affordable, and quality health care available to them from a wide variety of medical providers, including access to reproductive health services. In addition to providing abortion care, Planned Parenthood also provides birth control, screenings for sexually transmitted infections, and educational services. Access to these services is vital to keeping communities healthy.
While states have considerable discretion in implementing Medicaid programs, safeguards like the freedom to choose a provider are in place to protect patients’ healthcare decisions from government micromanagement. The coalition argues that South Carolina’s efforts to limit patient choice illustrate exactly why Congress thought it was necessary to guard the rights of individuals to make their own health care choices.
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