Supreme Court to Hear Case That Could End Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Giant

The U.S. Supreme Court announced on Wednesday that it will hear a landmark case that could end taxpayer funding for abortions performed by the Planned Parenthood Federation of America — the largest single provider of abortions in the United States.

Although Planned Parenthood South Atlantic v. Robert M. Kerr originates in South Carolina, it could disqualify Planned Parenthood from the Medicaid program nationwide if the court rules in favor of pro-lifers, who have fought a long battle to starve the abortion giant of public cash.

Medicaid offers federal funding to states, enabling them to provide essential medical care for low-income individuals. However, according to federal law, eligible participants have the freedom to choose any qualified healthcare provider; the dispute over whether abortion and contraceptive services are “health care” lies at the heart of the case.

In 2018, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster, a committed evangelical Christian, issued an executive order denying Medicaid funds to Planned Parenthood on the grounds that “payment of taxpayer funds to abortion clinics, for any purpose, results in the subsidy of abortion and the denial of the right to life.”

“Taxpayer dollars should never be used to fund facilities that make a profit off abortion,” Alliance Defending Freedom attorney John Bursch said in a statement Wednesday. “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.”

According to Planned Parenthood’s 2022-23 annual report, the group currently receives approximately $2 million from taxpayers every day — about 34% of its overall revenue. According to the Charlotte Lozier Institute, taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood has shot up 43% since 2010.

Lower Courts Rule in Favor of Planned Parenthood

Planned Parenthood South Atlantic (PPSAT) operates abortion mills in Charleston and Columbia. In May 2023, the South Carolina Senate passed a ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy except in cases of incest, rape, or to save the mother’s life. McMaster signed the bill into law two days later, and the state Supreme Court declared the ban constitutional that August.

But a low-income woman seeking contraceptives from PPSAT sued the state in federal court in July 2018, leading to a permanent injunction of McMaster’s executive order, which in turn allowed South Carolina Medicaid patients to continue receiving federally funded abortions and other services from PPSAT.

The Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court’s decision three times, ruling that South Carolinians who use Medicaid have the right to receive services from Planned Parenthood.

“Planned Parenthood also performs abortions, but pursuant to federal law, South Carolina Medicaid funds cannot be used to cover abortions except in life-threatening circumstances or in the case of rape or incest,” the lower court declared. “This decision is not about funding or providing abortions.”

Christian Advocacy Group Appeals to SCOTUS

South Carolina, represented by Alliance Defending Freedom asked the Supreme Court to hear the case.

“Can pro-life states like South Carolina, consistent with the will of their citizens and state law, direct taxpayer Medicaid funds to medical providers offering real health care services instead of abortion providers like Planned Parenthood?” the ADF asked in a statement.

“The answer is yes. States should be able to use taxpayer dollars in accordance with their own laws. No citizen should have to fund facilities that perform life-ending and medically fraught procedures like abortion.”

Taypayer Bonanza for Planned Parenthood

The Supreme Court’s decision will be delivered several months after the installation of incoming President Donald Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has already threatened to defund the abortion giant.

DOGE chiefs Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy outlined their strategy in a Wall Street Journal op-ed published November 20:

DOGE will help end federal overspending by taking aim at the $500 billion plus in annual federal expenditures that are unauthorized by Congress or being used in ways that Congress never intended, from $535 million a year to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and $1.5 billion for grants to international organizations to nearly $300 million to progressive groups like Planned Parenthood.

A response from the leftwing publication Politico raised the alarm over “the shrink-the-government brigade” openly taking up “a longstanding battle cry of social conservatives: defunding Planned Parenthood.”

Killing Babies Is Big Business

In its 2023 Report on Planned Parenthood CEO Compensation, American Life League’s Stop Planned Parenthood International (STOPP) program revealed that “the average Planned Parenthood affiliate CEO is in the 98th percentile of US wage earners, making $317,564 annually.” The authors noted:

Planned Parenthood continues, year after year, to dramatically increase the salaries of its affiliate corporation CEOs and its New York headquarters staff while continually crying poverty and seeking and receiving more and more taxpayer money.

The average compensation for a CEO at Planned Parenthood rose from $237,999 in 2015 to $317,564 in 2020 (a 33.4% increase in five years). By comparison, in 2020 the the average U.S. worker was earning $55,629 — up only 15.6% increase from 2015.

In 2020, PPFA President Alexis McGill Johnson was paid $616,926, putting her in the 99th percentile of U.S. earner. Meanwhile, the total compensation paid to 53 Planned Parenthood affiliate CEOs increased from $13.3 million in 2015 to $16.8 million in 2020 — a 26.3% increase.

Abortion Giant Fights Back

“Today, the Supreme Court made it clear that people’s ability to choose their sexual and reproductive health care provider is in jeopardy,” Johnson said Wednesday.

“Patients who use Medicaid as their insurance should have the freedom to get high-quality, affordable health care — birth control, STI testing and treatment, and life-saving cancer screenings — at Planned Parenthood South Atlantic,” she added. “We’ll see you at the Supreme Court.”

But McMaster was not swayed.

“In 2018, I issued an executive order to end this practice in South Carolina,” he said. “I’m confident the U.S. Supreme Court will agree with me that states shouldn’t be forced to subsidize abortions.”

Meanwhile, when the next state legislative session convenes on January 14, 2025, legislators will consider reintroducing a bill that would classify abortion as homicide. The South Carolina Prenatal Equal Protection Act was originally proposed in January 2023, but did not make any headway.

Dr. Jules Gomes, (BA, BD, MTh, PhD), has a doctorate in biblical studies from the University of Cambridge. Currently a Vatican-accredited journalist based in Rome, he is the author of five books and several academic articles. Gomes lectured at Catholic and Protestant seminaries and universities and was canon theologian and artistic director at Liverpool Cathedral.

The post Supreme Court to Hear Case That Could End Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Giant appeared first on The Stream.

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