Planned Parenthood Amends South Carolina Medicaid Lawsuit Seeking Clinic Funding

Planned Parenthood South Atlantic has filed an amended lawsuit challenging South Carolina's efforts to exclude it from Medicaid funding, particularly for non-abortion health services such as cancer screenings and STI treatments. The legal action contests Gov. Henry McMaster's 2018 executive order and subsequent state budget provisions aimed at defunding the nonprofit's clinics, arguing these measures violate the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause by unfairly targeting Planned Parenthood. The organization seeks to block the state from reclaiming previously disbursed Medicaid funds and to maintain its status as a Medicaid provider while the case proceeds. This renewed challenge follows a 2025 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that denied Medicaid patients the right to sue for provider choice but did not directly address the state's ability to exclude providers like Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood emphasizes that its clinics provide essential preventive healthcare services and warns that defunding would cause irreparable harm to patients in a state with high rates of chronic diseases and STIs. State officials maintain that excluding abortion providers from Medicaid is lawful, framing the lawsuit as a repetition of settled issues.