Planned Parenthood filed an amended motion reviving constitutional claims and seeking to stop South Carolina from reclaiming Medicaid funds it previously received.
COLUMBIA, S.C. โ Planned Parenthood is challenging South Carolina’s right to restrict it from Medicaid funding and has issued an amended court filing to stop the state from trying to claw back some of the money given to it during a previous injunction.
The Aug. 21 motion seeks to amend an existing lawsuit, reviving an equal protection claim that was dismissed without prejudice in 2020. The motion alleges that it was specifically targeted in a state appropriations proviso that aims to keep Planned Parenthood from receiving any Medicaid funding, even for services other than abortion.
Previously, the organization alleged that South Carolina violated the 14th Amendment right to equal protection and the Medicaid Act by singling it out “without adequate justification.” The constitutional claims were set aside when a court granted Planned Parenthood’s motion to stop the termination. However, the ruling never prevented Planned Parenthood from reestablishing the case from a constitutional standpoint. After the Supreme Court ruled against the organization and the “Free Choice of Provider provision,” Planned Parenthood brought back the constitutional claims in an amended request.
The latest filing also alleges that the state is trying to take back funds the organization received previously. It seeks to legally stop the state from requesting these funds.
Planned Parenthood alleges that the move to defund it and recoup costs would cause “irreparable harm” to its clinics and patients in South Carolina if the court doesn’t grant a new injunction.
However, in a statement released on Friday, a spokesperson for South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster said the high court’s ruling still stands.
โThe U.S. Supreme Court has made clear that South Carolina has the right to exclude abortion providers from our Medicaid program,” said spokesperson Brandon Charochak. “Planned Parenthoodโs latest filing is nothing more than a desperate, last-gasp attempt to relitigate an issue that has already been decided.โ
