“Indiana lawmakers – and the people they represent – should have the right to decide whether their hard-earned tax dollars end up in the hands of the abortion industry,” said AUL’s Dr. Charmaine Yoest.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (05-28-2013) –The United States Supreme Court rejected an opportunity to review a lower court decision preventing Indiana from cutting off Medicaid funding from abortion providers. In the case, Indiana lawmakers prohibited federal and state taxpayer funding from going to entities, such as Planned Parenthood, that provide abortions. The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals held in Planned Parenthood v. Indiana that state lawmakers cannot prohibit otherwise-qualified abortion providers from receiving reimbursement through Medicaid, ostensibly for “family planning” and other services, because they perform abortions.
“The Court missed an opportunity to clarify, once and for all, that states may cut the abortion industry off from all sources of taxpayer funding,” observed Americans United for Life President and CEO Dr. Charmaine Yoest. “Big Abortion has no constitutional right to force Americans to support its deadly industry with tax dollars.”
But the case did offer a silver lining, noted Dr. Yoest. “While we are disappointed that the Supreme Court did not take this case, the Court’s decision allows one aspect of the Seventh Circuit’s ruling to stand: it is constitutional for states to prohibit non-Medicaid public funds from being awarded to abortion providers,” she noted.
However, the Seventh Circuit rejected Indiana’s legitimate justifications for denying Medicaid funding to entities that provide abortions.
“In fact, Indiana made a well-reasoned determination that bankrolling the abortion industry violates the state’s public policy, and abortion providers are, therefore, not qualified to receive taxpayer funds, including Medicaid funds” stated Yoest.
AUL has developed cutting-edge model legislation, including the Defunding the Abortion Industry and Advancing Women’s Health Act, to assist states with defunding abortion providers and protecting women and their unborn children in a manner similar to the Indiana law. For more information on this and other AUL model legislation found in Defending Life, click here.
