Supreme Court ruling adds uncertainty to California Planned Parenthood funding
CA healthcare providers wary after SCOTUS ruling on Planned Parenthood funding
A Supreme Court ruling on Thursday that upheld a state's right to bar Medicaid funds from being used on Planned Parenthood procedures could have consequences in California.
SAN JOSE, Calif. - The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that states can block the country’s biggest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, from receiving Medicaid money for health services such as contraception and cancer screenings.
The 6-3 opinion by Justice Neil Gorsuch and joined by the rest of the court’s conservatives was not directly about abortion, but it comes as Republicans back a wider push across the country to defund the organization. It closes off Planned Parenthood’s primary court path to keeping Medicaid funding in place: patient lawsuits.
"This is atrocious. I was beside myself when I heard of this ruling," said Professor Audrey Blondin, a law and public health expert at the University of New Haven.
Added state Sen. Dave Cortese, "You've just got a huge piece of the healthcare access safety net that's gone."
Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California CEO and President, Jodi Hicks, wrote in a statement that the ruling is another blow to healthcare.
"This latest ruling is yet another move by the Supreme Court's anti-abortion majority to deny people essential healthcare and punish abortion providers simply for providing this care. 'Free choice of provider' under Medicaid means nothing if an individual's qualified provider of choice cannot serve them, just as reproductive freedom means nothing without reproductive healthcare access," Hicks said.
There are concerns the High Court's ruling could be seen as a green light by other states to block or stop funding for Planned Parenthood. That could push more people to California for procedures, at a time when Gov. Gavin Newsom and the legislature are struggling to make funding cuts to this state's budget.
"There are cuts proposed to planned parenthood that he (the governor) has proposed, and we'll see tomorrow and Monday exactly how the legislature responds to those," said Cortese.
Lawmakers have until Monday to create a balanced budget that will protect the level of care offered by Planned Parenthood. And then, brace for the fallout from federal cuts, as the impact of Donald Trump's second term in office continues spreading.
"And it just goes on and on and on. And we cannot have this," said Blondin.
California state senators and assembly members caucused at the state capitol in Sacramento and tried to agree on a looming budget deadline in light of likely federal funding cuts. They will present the governor with options to the cuts he has suggested.
Cortese said one path forward could be adding a business tax on some of the largest corporations, to help bridge the funding gap.
Jesse Gary is a reporter based in the station's South Bay Bureau. Follow him on the Instagram platform, @jessegontv and on Facebook, @JesseKTVU.