This spring, the Supreme Court will hear a case about whether states can kick Planned Parenthood out of their Medicaid programs for non-abortion services, like birth control or cancer screenings. (The state already bans Medicaid from covering abortions in most circumstances.) While Republican-led states have long argued they have a right to do so because the reproductive health organization provides abortions with non-Medicaid money, South Carolina is the first state to get the dispute to the Supreme Court. And on Monday, 93 Republican members of Congress filed a brief with the court asking it to side with South Carolina.
The case, Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, is part of the long-running conservative effort to “defund” Planned Parenthood, which is a misnomer. As a Medicaid provider, Planned Parenthood offers care including birth control, STI testing and treatment, and cancer screenings like Pap smears and breast exams. When people with Medicaid insurance choose to get that care at Planned Parenthood, the program reimburses them for services provided. Contrary to the implication of “defunding,” there’s no line item in the state budget for Planned Parenthood. Representing South Carolina is Alliance Defending Freedom, the same Christian Nationalist law firm that wrote the law that overturned Roe v. Wade and had two abortion cases at the Supreme Court last year.
In 2018, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) signed an executive order directing the state health department to deem abortion providers unqualified to participate in Medicaid because, in his words, it “results in the subsidy of abortion.” The local Planned Parenthood affiliate and a patient named Julie Edwards sued the health department for violating her constitutional rights under an 1871 law, and argued that Medicaid patients can sue to enforce their right, as spelled out in the Medicaid Act, to choose “any qualified provider” who accepts their insurance. The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed, but the state appealed on the grounds that Medicaid is a federal spending program so the 1871 law doesn’t apply, and here we are.
If the court rules for South Carolina and says patients can’t enforce this provision of the law, it means states are essentially free to define “qualified providers” however they want, and exclude providers on ideological grounds. It could mean states like Arkansas, Missouri, Mississippi, and Texas would get to enforce similar policies, which would gut access to contraception and other family planning services. Arguments are scheduled for April 2, with a decision expected in June.
The amicus brief from the GOP members of Congress argues that Edwards and Planned Parenthood South Atlantic simply can’t sue the state over this decision, rather than making a more strident “subsidizing abortion” claim that other conservatives made in their briefs.
But even with that bit of legal restraint, the GOP caucus still couldn’t muster more than 100 signatures on the brief. That’s notably fewer lawmakers than those who asked the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade (228), cut access to the abortion pill (145), and restrict emergency abortions (121). Attacking birth control access is even worse politics than attacking abortion, as these numbers seemingly illustrate. Plus, Republicans have a razor-thin House majority to defend in the 2026 midterms.
We’ll see you back here in April for arguments in the case.
Here are the 93 lawmakers in the Senate (16) and the House of Representatives (77) who signed the brief, listed in alphabetical order by last name:
U.S. Senators
Jim Banks (IN)
John Barrasso, M.D. (WY)
Marsha Blackburn (TN)
Ted Budd (NC)
Kevin Cramer (ND)
Ted Cruz (TX)
Steve Daines (MT)
Lindsey Graham (SC)
Chuck Grassley (IA)
Josh Hawley (MO)
Cindy Hyde-Smith (MS)
Jim Justice (WV)
James Lankford (OK)
Eric Schmitt (MO)
Tim Scott (SC)
Roger F. Wicker (MS)
U.S. Representatives:
Robert Aderholt (AL)
Mark Alford (MO)
Rick W. Allen (GA)
Brian Babin, D.D.S. (TX)
Cliff Bentz (OR)
Andy Biggs (AZ)
Sheri Biggs (SC)
Gus Bilirakis (FL)
Lauren Boebert (CO)
Mike Bost (IL)
Josh Brecheen (OK)
Tim Burchett (TN)
Kat Cammack (FL)
Ben Cline (VA)
Michael Cloud (TX)
Andrew Clyde (GA)
Jeff Crank (CO)
Dan Crenshaw (TX)
Warren Davidson (OH)
Troy Downing (MT)
Jake Ellzey (TX)
Ron Estes (KS)
Mike Ezell (MS)
Randy Feenstra (IA)
Chuck Fleischmann (TN)
Virginia Foxx (NC)
Russell Fry (SC)
Mike Fulcher (ID)
Lance Gooden (TX)
Paul A. Gosar, D.D.S. (AZ)
Mark Green (TN)
Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA)
H. Morgan Griffith (VA)
Glenn Grothman (WI)
Michael Guest (TX)
Harriet M. Hageman (WY)
Andy Harris, M.D. (MD)
Mark Harris (NC)
Clay Higgins (LA)
Ashley Hinson (IA)
Richard Hudson (NC)
Ronny Jackson (TX)
Trent Kelly (MS)
Barry Loudermilk (GA)
Rich McCormick M.D
M.B.A (GA)
Addison McDowell (NC)
John McGuire (VA)
Carol Miller (WV)
John Moolenaar (MI)
Riley Moore (WV)
Tim Moore (NC)
Ralph Norman (SC)
Andrew Ogles (TN)
Robert F. Onder Jr. M.D. (MO)
Gary Palmer (AL)
August Pfluger (TX)
John Rose (TN)
David Rouzer (NC)
Derek Schmidt (KS)
Austin Scott (GA)
Keith Self (TX)
Pete Sessions (TX)
Pete Stauber (MN)
Marlin Stutzman (IN)
Claudia Tenney (NY)
Glenn “GT” Thompson (PA)
William Timmons (SC)
Austin Scott (GA)
Adrian Smith (NE)
Christopher H. Smith (NJ)
Jeff Van Drew (NJ)
Beth Van Duyne (TX)
Randy K. Weber, Sr. (TX)
Daniel Webster (FL)
Joe Wilson (SC)
Rudy Yakym III (IN)
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