S.C. Governor celebrates massive legal win as Supreme Court lifts injunction, sends abortion funding case back to lower court

Columbia, South Carolina – South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster is celebrating a big legal win after the U.S. Supreme Court sided with South Carolina in Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic. The governor originally tried to keep abortion providers out of the state’s Medicaid program with an executive order in 2018. The high court’s decision backs this up.

After the ruling, McMaster said in a statement that the decision was a long-awaited confirmation of the state’s authority to uphold its principles.

“Seven years ago, we took a stand to protect the sanctity of life and defend South Carolina’s authority and values – and today, we are finally victorious,” said Governor Henry McMaster. “The legality of my executive order prohibiting taxpayer dollars from being used to fund abortion providers like Planned Parenthood has been affirmed by the highest court in the land.”

Governor McMaster’s order to the South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services to take abortion facilities, including Planned Parenthood, out of the state’s Medicaid provider network started dispute. The order was challenged in federal court at the time, and an injunction stopped the policy from going into effect.

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The Supreme Court’s ruling this week has overturned the earlier injunction. The Supreme Court’s decision means that the case will now go back to the lower court for further proceedings.

The governor, who filed an amicus brief in February to support South Carolina’s case, also went to the Court in April to hear the oral arguments. His administration has remained involved in the legal battle over the years, presenting it as a larger defense of state sovereignty and the rights of taxpayers.

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This decision is a big step forward in the continuing national debate over public funding and access to abortion. For South Carolina, it marks a clear turning point in a legal dispute that has been going on for almost ten years at different levels of the court system.