Folks,
As we feared, the anti-abortion Supreme Court has issued another disastrous ruling, this time furthering their attempts to defund abortion and healthcare providers like Planned Parenthood.
When states, like South Carolina, tried to defund Planned Parenthood by removing them from the “qualified providers” list of their Medicaid program, legal challenges were brought under the federal civil rights act claiming that the Medicaid Act gives patients the right to choose their own providers.
This week's decision in Medina v. Planned Parenthood stripped those rights away from patients around the country. The Court held that while the Medicaid Act might say patients have a “free choice” in providers, they have no right to enforce that in federal court.
This was never about stopping just abortion care, the Dobbs decision made abortion illegal in South Carolina. This is about attacking your access to healthcare. Millions of people across the country rely on Medicaid for health care and many choose to get that care from Planned Parenthood health centers - including cancer screenings, annual visits, STI testing and treatment, and birth control.
The practical effect of this decision is that more states will look to defund Planned Parenthood and reproductive care clinics, gender affirming care providers, contraception providers, HIV clinics, or anything else they may deem “unqualified.”
And all this while anti-abortion politicians are fighting to pass a bill in Congress that not only guts Medicaid, but could defund Planned Parenthood entirely.
This would lead to hundreds of clinics closing and millions of people going without care. The Senate is planning to vote on that bill as early as this weekend. So now more than ever, we need you to join us in speaking up.
Please, click here to email the Senate and demand that they vote no on this bill, especially in the wake of this devastating decision.
Thank you - we can’t win this fight without your voice and right now, Congress needs to hear from us.
