ADF: US Supreme Court should clarify that Medicaid recipients can’t sue states to force taxpayer funding of abortion clinics

The following quote may be attributed to Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Chris Schandevel regarding a friend-of-the-court brief ADF attorneys filed Monday with the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of Robert Kerr, director of the South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, in the case Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County v. Talevski, asking the court to clarify that Medicaid recipients can’t sue states that have determined that Planned Parenthood and other abortion businesses aren’t qualified to receive Medicaid funding for family planning services:

“Pro-life states like South Carolina are free to determine that Planned Parenthood and other organizations that peddle abortion are not qualified to receive taxpayer funds via Medicaid. Because Congress didn’t explicitly create a right for Medicaid recipients to drag states into federal court to challenge those decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court should make clear that no such right exists. We are urging the court to clear up confusion in its caselaw and to expressly affirm that cases like Talevski and the lawsuit filed against South Carolina must be thrown out when Congress hasn’t explicitly created a private right of action under Spending Clause legislation like the Medicaid Act.”

Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.

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