SC v. John Doe
Case Overview
South Carolina v. John Doe (SCOTUS 25A234) is a Supreme Court emergency application arising from South Carolina's challenge to a court order requiring the state to restore Medicaid eligibility to Planned Parenthood as a qualified Medicaid provider. South Carolina excluded Planned Parenthood from its Medicaid program because the organization performs abortions. The application raises the same provider-exclusion and free-choice-of-provider issues addressed in Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic (2025).
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The Facts
South Carolina excluded Planned Parenthood from the state's Medicaid network, citing its abortion services. John Doe, a Medicaid beneficiary who received non-abortion healthcare from Planned Parenthood, challenged the exclusion as violating the Medicaid Act's free-choice-of-provider provision. A federal district court ordered South Carolina to restore Planned Parenthood's Medicaid participation. South Carolina sought an emergency stay, and the Fourth Circuit denied it, prompting a Supreme Court application.
The Application
Although 42 U.S.C. § 1396a(a)(23) nominally grants Medicaid beneficiaries like Doe the right to choose among qualified providers, Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic (2025) foreclosed beneficiaries' ability to enforce that right through § 1983 litigation. South Carolina's exclusion of Planned Parenthood based on its abortion services (rather than its qualifications as a Medicaid provider) falls within the state's post-Dobbs authority over abortion regulation, a domain not subject to beneficiary challenge under the Court's reasoning in Medina. Without an enforceable private right of action, Doe lacks standing to challenge South Carolina's exclusion, even though she received non-abortion healthcare from the excluded provider.
The Conclusion
The Court's June 2025 ruling in Medina effectively resolved the free-choice-of-provider enforcement question states may exclude abortion providers from Medicaid without successful beneficiary challenge under § 1983. This application was mooted or resolved in light of Medina. South Carolina's exclusion policy stands.
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