Supreme Court ruling on patients rights' could devastate Planned Parenthood

The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that Medicaid patients do not have the right to choose their medical provider, which may lead to the defunding of Planned Parenthood. This decision could result in more states removing Planned Parenthood from their Medicaid programs, following the example of Texas, Arkansas, and Missouri. The Trump administration backed South Carolina's position in the case, Medina v. Planned Parenthood, which aimed to block Medicaid recipients from receiving care at Planned Parenthood clinics. Nearly half of patients who use Planned Parenthood services have Medicaid coverage, and shutting the provider out of Medicaid networks could effectively defund it. Defunding Planned Parenthood would not only curtail abortion access but also diminish the availability of primary care services, including STI and cancer screening, birth control prescriptions, vaccines, and mental health help. The decision may embolden more states to remove Planned Parenthood from their Medicaid programs, and a GOP budget bill being debated in Congress would also cut off Medicaid funding to the reproductive health group. Federal Medicaid funding is not used to pay for abortions, except in a few exceptions, and less than half of states use their own dollars to cover abortion care under Medicaid. The ruling has sparked concerns about bodily autonomy and reproductive freedom, with critics arguing that it would strip patients of their right to high-quality, affordable health care. The decision is seen as a major blow to Planned Parenthood, which derives a significant chunk of its funding from Medicaid.