Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California Responds to SCOTUS Ruling Eroding Patients’ Rights in Medicaid

June 26, 2025

Shelby McMichael

SACRAMENTO – Today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic (PPSAT) that the federal Medicaid Act does not allow Medicaid enrollees to sue to enforce their right to see the qualified provider of their choice. As a direct result, Medicaid-insured patients in South Carolina cannot hold their state accountable for excluding Planned Parenthood and other providers from Medicaid simply because they provide abortions.

While Planned Parenthood remains an important provider in Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program, this ruling paves the way for other states to eliminate providers of abortion, gender affirming care, and other stigmatized care from participating in their state Medicaid programs, and significantly undermines the “free choice of provider” provision under the federal Medicaid Act. The consequences of this ruling will be most severely felt by patients who rely on Planned Parenthood and other Medicaid providers not only for abortion but a broad array of sexual and reproductive health care services. 

Statement by Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California CEO and President, Jodi Hicks: “This latest ruling is yet another move by the Supreme Court’s anti-abortion majority to deny people essential health care and punish abortion providers simply for providing this care. “Free choice of provider” under Medicaid means nothing if an individual’s qualified provider of choice cannot serve them, just as reproductive freedom means nothing without reproductive health care access. 

“Make no mistake – attempts by states and Congress to cut Planned Parenthood out the Medicaid program are backdoor bans on sexual and reproductive care.

“The Planned Parenthood affiliates in California are proud to serve patients in a state that has expanded reproductive health care access via Medicaid and intends to continue to support the ability of Planned Parenthood health centers to serve all who seek care in California.”

HOW THIS IMPACTS CALIFORNIA
In California, Medi-Cal enrollees can access abortion care, family planning care, and care related to the diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted infections from any qualified and willing provider, including the Planned Parenthood health centers. Planned Parenthood remains committed to serving patients, including patients with low incomes, regardless of their insurance coverage.

NATIONAL PLANNED PARENTHOOD DEFUND STILL IMMINENT
This ruling comes as Congress works to take this political agenda nationwide and block people with Medicaid coverage from being able to go to Planned Parenthood for care in every state across the country, including California. Because one in three Planned Parenthood patients receive care in California, a federal defund of Planned Parenthood would have an outsized impact on California’s health care system and jeopardize access to care for nearly one million people overnight. 

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