High court kills Indiana cuts to Planned Parenthood funding

The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a lower court ruling that tossed out an Indiana law blocking Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood. Because the high court declined to hear the appeal, the lower court ruling stands, and Indiana can’t exclude Planned Parenthood from Medicaid funding.

Indiana passed a law in 2011 prohibiting state funding for any entity that performs abortions. The Medicaid funding would be for health exams, but Indiana passed the law out of concern that those funds would indirectly subsidize abortions, since the procedures make up such a large part of Planned Parenthood’s work. Planned Parenthood sued, and the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last fall in the abortion provider’s favor. The federal government sided with Planned Parenthood in the case.

The 7th Circuit noted that the Hyde Amendment already bans any federal funds from being used for abortions at the state level, and said Indiana’s law went too far. The law violated a part of the Medicaid Act that allows patients to choose their medical provider, the ruling said. The court did uphold the part of Indiana’s law that bans other state grants to entities that provide abortions.

The Supreme Court justices typically do not provide any explanation when they decline to hear a case.