Dear PPMW Supporter,
Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a deeply troubling ruling in the case Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic.
The Court’s decision allows South Carolina to exclude Planned Parenthood health centers from its state Medicaid program, setting the harmful precedent that states can prevent patients from choosing their own trusted health care providers.
Let me be clear — this ruling has no immediate impact on patients in DC, Maryland, and Northern Virginia. Medicaid patients in our communities can continue to receive care from providers of their choice, including at Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, DC (PPMW) health centers in DC; Suitland, MD; and Gaithersburg, MD.
With that said, this ruling serves as a grim reminder that attacks on essential health care — such as cancer screenings; STI/STD testing and treatment; and birth control — will continue. These attacks are most harmful to low-income patients, who are simply trying to get the care they need from providers they trust, all while making ends meet.
In 2024 alone, PPMW provided almost 55,000 STI/STD testing and/or treatment appointments, saw nearly 12,000 patients for contraceptive care, and provided over 2,000 cancer screenings, just to name a few examples of our essential services.
The need to protect sexual, reproductive, and preventive health care has never been greater; for ourselves, our neighbors, friends, loved ones, and for the most vulnerable members of our shared communities.
Today, I ask you from the bottom of my heart to help strengthen PPMW; to support us so that we, in turn, can continue to provide high-quality, compassionate, and affordable health care for all patients.
We believe that such care is a human right, and that no one should be denied agency in choosing who provides that care. If you share this belief, I ask you to support PPMW — your local Planned Parenthood affiliate — today.
