In a six-to-three decision, the Supreme Court is allowing states to cut off Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood, a move that could dry up one of the organization’s major sources of money.

While the immediate impact of the decision in Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic is limited to South Carolina, other states could follow.

The case stems from a 2018 executive order issued by the governor of South Carolina, Henry McMaster, blocking facilities that perform abortions from receiving federal funds to provide services to Medicaid patients. 

The decision is a “vehement, targeted attack,” the president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Alexis McGill Johnson, says.

Federal law prohibits federal funds from being used to pay for abortions in most cases. However, conservative states say that federal funds should not go to Planned Parenthood for any of the other services it provides so long as it continues to offer abortion services.

Thursday’s ruling says the Medicaid statute does not give patients the ability to sue to enforce their right to choose their provider.

The Medicaid Act states that patients can receive health care from “any institution, agency, community pharmacy, or person, qualified to perform the service or services required.”

Justice Neil Gorsuch delivered the majority opinion. He says that Medicaid law doesn’t include a “clear and unambiguous notice of an individually enforceable right.”

“Today, the Supreme Court once again sided with politicians who believe they know better than you, who want to block you from seeing your trusted health care provider and making your own health care decisions,” Ms. Johnson says. “And the consequences are not theoretical in South Carolina or other states with hostile legislatures.”

The three liberal justices dissented. The majority’s decision will likely “result in tangible harm to real people,” Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said in her dissent.

The American Public Health Association and other health groups have raised concerns about states being able to block Medicaid funds from going to Planned Parenthood, as they note the organization offers other services in addition to abortions.

The chief medical officer for Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, Katherine Farris, says the ruling does not immediately block the organization from treating Medicaid patients. She says they don’t have an exact date of when the new Medicaid rule will go into effect but it will alert patients when that happens.

Only about 3.5 percent of South Carolina Planned Parenthood patients use Medicaid, but nationally the number is about 50 percent, according to the organization.

If Medicaid funding is cut off, Planned Parenthood says it could force the closure of about 200 centers across the country.