Last year, the Supreme Court decided it would hear the Kerr v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic case, now known as Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic. Robert Kerr retired in November from the South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (SCDHHS), and the new interim director is Eunice Medina, with whom ADF is now continuing the case. ADF's opening brief asks the Supreme Court to consider:

Whether the Medicaid Act's any-qualified provider provision unambiguously confers a private right upon a Medicaid beneficiary to choose a specific provider.

The case stemmed from a lawsuit brought by Julie Edwards, who sued the state of South Carolina because Medicaid would not pay for her to get birth control at Planned Parenthood. The Hyde Amendment bans federal funding from being used to pay for abortions, though individual states can choose to fund abortions. In South Carolina, Governor Henry McMaster issued an executive order in 2018 cutting off state funding from Planned Parenthood, as well as every other abortion business in the state.

Edwards claimed that Medicaid allows patients to go to the provider of their choice for health care. The US Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit agreed with Planned Parenthood, at which point Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) requested that the Supreme Court step in.

Click Here and scroll down to watch the video report

ADF is further asking for the Supreme Court to rule that states can choose to defund private organizations, like Planned Parenthood.

"Reading a private right into the any-qualified provider provision would undermine the relationship between the states and the federal government," the brief argues. "Private enforcement subjects states to unanticipated (and expensive) lawsuits. And it takes the Secretary's enforcement flexibility and gives it to federal courts, meaning executive power is taken from the executive and given to the judiciary by the judiciary. The Court has set a high bar for recognizing private rights in spending statutes—and the any-qualified-provider provision doesn't clear it. The Court should reverse."

In a press release, ADF Senior Counsel and Vice President of Appellate Advocacy John Bursch said this is a decision that states should be allowed to make.

"Taxpayer dollars should never be used to fund facilities that make a profit off abortion," he said. "State officials should be free to determine that Planned Parenthood and other entities that peddle abortion are not qualified to receive taxpayer funding through Medicaid. Congress did not create a right for Medicaid recipients to drag states into federal court to challenge those decisions. Nor did Congress intend for federal courts to second guess states' decisions about which providers are qualified to receive Medicaid funding." Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here

To receive daily emails from Breaking Christian News to your inbox CLICK HERE

Memorial Day 2025: The Holiday Is More Than a Barbecue, It Remembers US Military Members Killed

Pete Hegseth Sparks Criticism for Prayer to 'King Jesus' at Pentagon Event

'Divine Providence' Ordained Trump to Guide and Constrain AI, Faith Leaders Say

Opinion: They Were Murdered Because They Were Jews; And the World Must Wake Up

Newly Adopted WHO Pandemic Agreement a Step Toward 'Global Surveillance Superstate': Expert

Minnesota Female Athletes Sue Attorney General Over Biological Males Playing in Girls' Sports

Senate Votes to Overturn California's Oppressive EV Mandate in Resounding Defeat for Climate Activists; Trump Expected to Sign Bill into Law

Supreme Court Allows Trump to Fire Labor Board Members in 6-3 Decision

'Trump Saved My Life, Literally': Woman Says Chance Encounter With Trump Kept Her from Suicide

Pope Leo XIV Invited to Visit President Trump at the White House

Marco Rubio Is on Fire, and Rep. Jayapal Just Got Burned

Biden Admin Officials Withheld Warnings to the Public About Heart Inflammation Risk from COVID Shot: Report

Ed Martin Named the Top Three Suspects in the Biden Autopen Fiasco

TIED: Supreme Court Allows Ruling Against Catholic Charter School to Stand

Female Driver Shot While Trying to Barge through Security Gates at CIA Headquarters

Israeli Embassy Staff Members Killed in Shooting Outside Jewish Museum in DC Were Planning to Get Engaged Next Week

US House Passes President Trump's 'One Big Beautiful Bill' 215-214

First Lady Melania and Karoline Leavitt Have Fun With Special White House Guests [Video]

Iconic Bible Teacher Kay Arthur Dies at 91: 'A Life Well Lived'

Evangelical Pastors Detail White House Visit; WH Aid Reveals: 'We're Going to Seek ... the Leading of God in All That We Do'