Supreme Court ruled 6-3 Medicaid patients cannot sue to enforce free-choice-of-provider, clearing path to exclude Planned Parenthood
The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on June 26, 2025, in Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic that Medicaid enrollees cannot use 42 U.S.C. § 1983 to enforce the program's free-choice-of-provider provision in federal court. Justice Gorsuch's majority opinion held the provision imposes duties on states without conferring individual rights that § 1983 protects, allowing South Carolina's exclusion of Planned Parenthood from Medicaid to stand. At least 14 other states had enacted or attempted similar exclusions, each now free of judicial check by patients through this mechanism.