NBJC Condemns Supreme Court Ruling That Allows States to Deny Medicaid Funding to Planned Parenthood
WASHINGTON — Dr. David J. Johns, CEO and Executive Director of the National Black Justice Collective (NBJC), issued the following statement in response to today’s Supreme Court ruling in Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, which strips Medicaid patients of the right to challenge a state’s decision to cut off funding to Planned Parenthood:
“Once again, the Supreme Court has handed state politicians a weapon to target our communities, and the people most impacted will be Black, women, poor, queer, trans, and gender variant.
“With today’s 6-3 ruling, the Court has made it easier for states to block patients from accessing lifesaving care, not because of medical qualifications or patient choice, but because of anti-Black, anti-woman, anti-LGBTQ+, and anti-democratic political ideology. For the more than 1.2 million South Carolinians who rely on Medicaid—and especially the Black lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer+, and same-gender loving (LGBTQ+/SGL) people who already face innumerable structural barriers to care—this is a direct attack on their health, dignity, and bodily autonomy.
“Planned Parenthood is often the only provider in communities where racism, sexism, transmisia, and medical bias already limit access to STI testing, cancer screenings, contraception, and affirming sexual and reproductive health care. In a country where 60% of Black women live in states hostile to reproductive health, and where Medicaid covers 41% of all U.S. births, this ruling creates a public health disaster that will ripple across generations.
“This decision won’t stop in South Carolina. This dangerous precedent opens the door for more states to deny care from trusted providers to those who need it most. It grants racist, sexist, anti-LGBTQ+, white supremacist elected officials across the country even greater ability to politicize health care access and punish providers for providing excellent and culturally competent service to our communities. In America, patients should have the right to select their health care providers. Instead, this Court has prioritized states’ ability to impose ideological barriers over patients’ medical needs.
“The National Black Justice Collective remains united with Planned Parenthood, with Medicaid recipients, and with every person who refuses to let politicians dictate who deserves care. We call on Congress to act immediately to protect healthcare access through federal legislation that safeguards the provider choice that this Court has stripped away. We urge everyone to contact the United States Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 to demand that Congress prevent further harm through Medicaid cuts in reconciliation and to contact state lawmakers to stop their states from following South Carolina’s discriminatory path.
“We will continue to organize, advocate, and demand a future where healthcare is a right, not a political bargaining chip.”