The US Supreme Court ruled Thursday that states can lawfully exclude Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid funds, handing a significant win to the pro-life movement and raising new questions about how the decision could affect states like Alaska. The vote was 6-3.
In Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, the justices upheld South Carolina’s decision to disqualify Planned Parenthood from its state Medicaid program.
Writing for the majority, Justice Neil Gorsuch said Medicaid recipients do not have the federal right to challenge a state’s decision to deny funding to a particular provider. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett joined the opinion. Justice Thomas wrote a concurring opinion.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote the dissent for herself and Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.
The decision may embolden conservative states seeking to block Medicaid funds from reaching providers who aid in the killing of unborn humans through abortion services. It also opens the door for new legal and political challenges at the state level.
In Alaska, the ruling is complicated by the Alaska Supreme Court’s ruling on privacy.
Alaska currently allows Planned Parenthood to receive Medicaid funding for a wide range of services. The state uses funds to pay for what are deemed “medically necessary” abortions for low-income women, as mandated by rulings from the Alaska Supreme Court.
The Hyde Amendment, a federal law passed in 1976, prohibits the use of federal Medicaid funds for abortions except in cases of rape, incest, or when the mother’s life is endangered. In Alaska, this means federal Medicaid funds cannot be used for most abortions. However, Alaska’s state constitution, as interpreted by court rulings like the 2019 Alaska Supreme Court decision, requires the state to fund “medically necessary” abortions for low-income women through Medicaid using state funds. This allows Planned Parenthood in Alaska to receive state Medicaid funding for abortions beyond the Hyde Amendment’s limited exceptions, covering a broader range of procedures deemed necessary under state law.
In 2022, Alaska Medicaid funded roughly 43% of the approximately 1,200 abortions performed in the state. Planned Parenthood is the largest abortionist using state-provided Medicaid in Alaska.
With the Supreme Court now backing the rights of states like South Carolina to cut off Medicaid funds to abortion-related providers, it’s unclear whether Alaska’s legal framework, as interpreted by the liberal Alaska Supreme Court, could be challenged, reinterpreted, or targeted in future litigation by carefully crafted legislation.
Although Thursday’s ruling does not directly override Alaska’s state court decisions, it may add pressure to revisit those precedents in light of evolving federal standards.
“Planned Infanticide” would be a much more accurate name.
And for anyone who would try to claim that an abortion is “just removing a lump of tissue” and not actually ending a life, they should ask any woman who has experienced a miscarriage if the woman felt that her miscarriage was just ‘an expulsion of a lump of tissue’. Every woman who I’ve known who has suffered a miscarriage thereby found it to be a terribly traumatic and emotionally wrought experience, giving the lie to the claim about “just a lump of tissue”.
9,361 births in 2022 and 1200 abortions, so 11.4% of Alaska’s pre-born babies are intentionally killed in the womb. Compare that rate to an estimated (NHTSB) 1095 children killed in automobile accidents nationwide in 2021. Compare that to an average of 22 children and teens killed each year from gun-related incidents in Alaska, which include suicides, homicides, and unintentional shootings (at that rate, it would take over 54 years of child firearms deaths in Alaska to match our 2022 abortion deaths).
It’s pretty deadly to be a baby in the womb in Alaska. And every one of these deaths were authorized by the child’s mother. Every. Single. One.
Yes.
In 2023, there were 8,932 births reported in Alaska. There were 1,022 abortions reported (11.44%).
Rape, Incest, Mother’s life is In danger should be the ONLY reason, Stupid should have to pay for their stupidity, Not the tax payers
And your opinion is exactly what 99% of the rest of us believe. I’m with you fries.
A child should never be condemned to death for the sin of his father.
So is this a “win” for infants health or a “no win” for women’s health?
I am having trouble understanding who is “winning” regarding these decisions.
Justice Brown-Jackson hasn’t a clear answer for any questions.
Thousands of dead babies you dip shit.
What it means for Alaska (???) … is that Daddy’s Little Princess gets her undies wedged in a bunch and putting her in a bad mood!!!
Unfortunately, no matter how much I or anyone else might wish it were otherwise, because the Alaska Supreme Court has interpreted the Alaska Constitution to require the state to fund abortions so long as it funds pregnancy related services, there is nothing the state can do to stop the state funding of abortion short of amending the Alaska Constitution. At present, I predict that any effort by the state to define a qualified Medicaid provider so as to exclude Planned Parenthood would be struck down by the Alaska Supreme Court as violative of the Alaska Constitution.
These same activists on the court redefined “medically necessary” to be ‘if an abortionists wants to do the abortion.’
If you go looking in Alaska history for a pregnancy that no abortionist was willing to terminate you will be looking for a long time. An abortion mean more money for the abortion industry. They are always willing to make money.
It won’t change anything in Alaska. Our commie legislature will continue funding those abortion mills.
Funding abortion is a popular thing in Juneau. Above all, our legislators like to be popular in Juneau. It’s good for business.
Good. Give states the choice. Alaska: your turn to stop this grizzly abortion factory that hides its true mission behind the shibboleth of “women’s healthcare.”
“Medically necessary abortions” are carried out in a hospital as emergency treatment, not at Planned Parenthood, which offers no emergency services whatsoever. The vast majority of them are for ectopic pregnancies, which are not technically abortions at all. Planned Parenthood has been hiding behind this sophistry forever. It is time they learn that if they offer a service such as abortion, they will need to find patients who can pay for them out of pocket instead of forcing the rest of us, who recognize abortion as murder, to pay for them.
“Medically necessary” used to mean what you describe. That is, until our activist Alaska Supreme Court redefined it to mean anytime an abortionist is willing to perform the abortion.
If the abortionist wants to do the abortion (and when do they not?) it becomes “medically necessary”.
According to the Dept. of Health, state tax dollars paid for 43% of abortions in Alaska last year (most performed by Planned Parenthood).
Of the 1,224 abortions reported by the state, more than 29% were Alaska Native babies, roughly double their percent of the population (‘https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/AK/PST045223).
Even if Planned Parenthood succeeded in filling every single seat on the Alaska Supreme Court with a Planned Parenthood-endorsed justice they cannot get around Art. IX, Sec. 13 “No money shall be withdrawn from the treasury except in accordance with appropriations made by law.”
In order for a state tax dollar to be spent on abortion (or anything else in this state), the legislature must first cast an affirmative vote to approve it. This is how Rep. Andy Josephson was able to block the Dunleavy Administration from continuing to spend money on outside attorneys to fully implement the Janus Decision in Alaska (“Janus II”). He blocked it by setting an absolute cap on funding during the budget process.
It takes at least 32 legislators to vote to spend money. If 32 legislators don’t take the step to vote to affirmatively approve the appropriation, liberals on the Supreme Court can bellyache all they want, but the money still doesn’t get spent until at least 32 legislators vote to spend it.
A minority of legislators blocked the Dunleavy Administration from spending money on outside counsel over Janus litigation.
A minority of legislators could just as easily vote to stop funding Planned Parenthood abortions in next year’s budget. But don’t hold your breath. This year, 2025, was the first time in recent memory that no legislator even put state funding for abortion up for a vote.
Instead, legislators punted to simply giving lip service to the pro-life community by supporting an abortion amendment that has never once stopped a single dollar from going to Planned Parenthood in all the years they have included it in the budget.
There are a number of ways to end our state funding for abortion in Alaska, but all require legislators to first find the will to do it.
This is an absolutely excellent post, with lots and lots of truths, from a man of experience. Thank you, sir.
Here’s a potential point that is not monitored by the state or feds………..because the abortion industry and legislators don’t want it monitored:
How many abortions are performed on women who have already had an abortion, thereby proving that abortion is being utilized as a birth control method?
My pro-life committee, Alaska Right to Life, learned that Planned Parenthood was selling baby body parts and we were given a price list per organ from a whistleblower in 1993. The illegal baby body parts scheme was proven in undercover videos released by The Center for Medical Progress (CMP) in 2015 and proven again in court by subsequent depositions of Planned Parenthood employees.
Planned Parenthood (P.P.) which has been caught in many lies, lied again and said the CMP videos were deceptively edited. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the videos were NOT deceptively edited. In the process, it was also learned that P.P. sold maternal blood samples, many without the mothers’ knowledge.
Planned Parenthood, true to their racist beginnings is known to target minorities by placing abortion facilities in minority neighborhoods and by other means. In Alaska, every time I’ve checked throughout the years, Natives have a disproportionate number of their babies killed by abortion, relative to their numbers in the population.
I’ve talked to many Alaskan Native women who arrived at abortion clinics in cabs, straight from the airport. One of the trusting Native ladies said she was sent to Anchorage because they needed to get her periods started again but she wasn’t told that she was pregnant nor anything about fetal development. In talks with a local hospital, my committee was told that the program to deliver babies early (& not sent to ICU) was especially important because of the villages (Natives).
Many, many women have been killed by legal abortion although it’s often hidden by only listing a result of the abortion such as sepsis or vomitus rather than the abortion itself as the cause of death. Legal abortion is neither save nor rare. Women deserve better.
“……. she was sent to Anchorage because they needed to get her periods started again but she wasn’t told that she was pregnant……..”
If true, this would almost certainly be a physician within the federal Public Health system.
Suppose the Anti- Abortion movement finally catches the car and outlaws abortion. Then what? Are you going to send the jackbooted thugs with their face coverings after suspected pregnant mothers? I wouldn’t have guessed in a 1000 years people who protested the ultra heavy hand of government 20 years ago at places like Waco and Ruby Ridge would suddenly be cheering government thugs to be indiscriminately rounding up suspected illegal immigrants and send them off to jails in foreign countries with zero due process. Just as a for instance would a mother have to prove she had a natural miscarriage? Just how would this work? Of course no government money go to pay for the abomination of abortion but what is the enforcement of banning all of them going to be? Do we just trust the government then?
Aren’t you glad YOUR mother chose life?
It is interesting that you have considerably more empathy towards illegal alien lawbreakers, than for your soon-to-be fellow Americans.
Politicians always carry on about their goal of abortion being “rare” and the need for loads of social services. 1022 dead babies in ONE years isn’t rare.
To my knowledge there is no plan to ban abortion outright, but to make it the absolute last resort with very clear cut parameters.
Interestingly the very same government you now decry in your alternate version of reality, you probably had no problem with, demanding people get vaccinated and stay locked up at home OR ELSE…..
Your post lacks logic and a grip on reality.
Humans are human and have “inalienable rights” (Source Declaration of Independence). This includes immigrants as well. How are you going to guarantee that it is the “last resort?” Let’s talk logic. How do you define that and THEN how do you enforce it? This freedom concept is tough for some as evidenced here. I’m for the goal but we are not going to get to there with law, a very poor tool for regulating human choice.
Inalienable rights are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness as stated in our Declaration of Independence.
It does not say that “we the people” are responsible to provide you with the means to be happy. Freeloading and law breaking isn’t a right! I am a great supporter of immigrants, who come here legally and are eager to become Americans. Illegal aliens violating our laws and taking advantage of our generosity forfeit that consideration.
Yes humans are human, something you seem to forget and dismiss about the unborn. They also have the right to LIFE, liberty and pursuit of their future happiness, which 1022 were gravely denied.
Last resort, abortions to save the mother’s life, incest or rape. As a woman your choice is to have sex or not. IF you do then you need to be prepared for the consequences and not make an innocent pay the price.
Killing the defenseless is not FREEDOM!
We are a nation of laws and it is our only way to make society work. You can not legislate morality, but LIFE, LIBERTY and the Pursuit of Happiness are not moral ambiguities, but basic facts inherent to every person’s existence.
“……..Suppose the Anti- Abortion movement finally catches the car and outlaws abortion. Then what? Are you going to send the jackbooted thugs with their face coverings after suspected pregnant mothers?…….”
This is a common accusation hurled by the “anti-life” (pro-homicide? is there an end to the spurious names that can be cast? Want to continue and find out, Joe?) industry and ideology.
The fact of the matter is that if you cut government funding of abortion, the industry dies. No deep pocket, means no industry. Follow the money.
Then will abortions continue in secret bedroom “clinics”? Yup. The danger is fully transferred to the mothers and the murderers, which is where the danger belongs, not to the innocent child.
The only police action needed will be responding to probable cause backroom abortion clinics and the rare cases of clothes-hanger events.
Harsh? You bet it is. Homicide is, by its very nature, a damned harsh event.
None of this business concerning Alaska, the Privacy clause in Art. 1, Sec. 22, and the unconstitutional rulings of the state court would mean a ding-dong thing if the “prolife” legislators began the process of claiming the clause, “The LEGISLATURE shall implement this section.” I have written endlessly on this subject and will again.
Oh, and a “prolife” governor could declare that the court’s ruling, which includes an OVERTHROW of the “power of the purse” in Article 9, would not be enforced.
Dunleavy, direct quote twice, after 2 meetings 6 mos. apart: “It’s going to take me a while to wrap my head around this.”
Oh, and the “prolife” senators could introduce articles of impeachment against the court.
But if they did any of this, they fear being “Eastmanized” by the media, the “Ethics” Committee, etc.
I support Planned Parenthood, but it is a well-established organization and should “stand on its own” by depending on the well earning contributions it seeks from people like me. It is one among many which no longer need the protection of “non-profit” status.
Public funds should never be used to pay for abortions. Nor should health insurance. Abortions generally have nothing to do with women’s health, only their convenience. If you don’t want to have a baby think about where they come from and do something about it ahead of time.