Supreme Court Paves Way for South Carolina and Other States To Defund Planned Parenthood
The Guardian, June 26, 2025
The U.S. Supreme Court has paved the way for South Carolina to kick Planned Parenthood out of its Medicaid program over its status as an abortion provider, a decision that could embolden red states across the country to effectively “defund” the reproductive healthcare organization. The case, Medina v Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, centers around a 2018 executive order from South Carolina’s governor, Henry McMaster, that blocked clinics that provide abortions from receiving Medicaid reimbursements. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, a Planned Parenthood affiliate that operates two clinics in South Carolina, and Julie Edwards, a patient who sought birth control, sued over McMaster’s order, arguing that it flew in the face of a federal provision known as the “free choice of provider” clause. That provision guarantees that people insured by Medicaid, the government health insurance program for people with low income or other eligibilities, can freely choose their own providers as long as they accept the program and are qualified to provide care. Lower courts have repeatedly sided with Planned Parenthood South Atlantic and Edwards, keeping McMaster’s order from taking effect. The case in front of the supreme court did not directly deal with the question of whether South Carolina could legally remove Planned Parenthood from Medicaid. Instead, the justices were asked to weigh in on a highly technical question: do Medicaid beneficiaries have the right to sue if they believe their right to a free choice of provider has been violated? In a 6-3 decision joined by every member of the court’s conservative supermajority, the justices ruled that, essentially, individuals do not possess that “enforceable right”. The court’s three liberal justices, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented.
The Number of Abortions Kept Rising in 2024 Because of Telehealth Prescriptions, Report Finds
Associated Press, June 23, 2025
The number of abortions in the U.S. rose again in 2024, with women continuing to find ways to get them despite bans and restrictions in many states, according to a report out Monday. The latest report from the WeCount project of the Society of Family Planning, which supports abortion access, was released a day before the third anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade and ended nearly 50 years of legal abortion nationally for most of pregnancy. The latest survey, released Monday, tallied about 1.1 million abortions nationally last year, or about 95,000 a month. That is up from about 88,000 monthly in 2023 and 80,000 a month between April and December of 2022. WeCount began after Roe was overturned, and the 2022 numbers don’t include January through March, when abortions are traditionally at their highest. WeCount found that in the months before the Dobbs ruling was handed down, about 1 in 20 abortions was accessed by telehealth. But during the last three months of 2024, it was up to 1 in 4. WeCount found that about half of the telehealth abortions last year were facilitated by the shield laws. The number of telehealth abortions also grew for those in states without bans. The WeCount data could help explain data from a separate survey from the Guttmacher Institute, which found the number of people crossing state lines for abortion declined last year. One key caveat is that it is not clear how many of the prescriptions result in abortion. Some women may change their minds, access in-person abortion or be seeking pills to save for future use.
Flock Removes States From National Lookup Tool After ICE and Abortion Searches Revealed
404 Media, June 25, 2025
Flock, the automatic license plate reader (ALPR) company with a presence in thousands of communities across the U.S., has stopped agencies across the country from searching cameras inside Illinois, California, and Virginia, 404 Media has learned. The dramatic moves come after 404 Media revealed local police departments were repeatedly performing lookups around the country on behalf of ICE, a Texas officer searched cameras nationwide for a woman who self-administered an abortion, and lawmakers recently signed a new law in Virginia. Ordinarily Flock allows agencies to opt into a national lookup database, where agencies in one state can access data collected in another, as long as they also share their own data. This practice violates multiple state laws which bar the sharing of ALPR data out of state or it being accessed for immigration or healthcare purposes. The changes also come after a wave of similar coverage in local and state-focused media outlets, with many replicating our reporting to learn more about what agencies are accessing Flock cameras in their communities and for what purpose. The Illinois Secretary of State is investigating whether Illinois police departments broke the law by sharing data with outside agencies for immigration or abortion related reasons. Some police departments have also shut down the data access after learning it was being used for immigration purposes. “License plate readers can serve as an important tool for law enforcement, but these cameras must be regulated so they aren’t abused for surveillance, tracking the data of innocent people or criminalizing lawful behavior. No one seeking legal healthcare services in Illinois should face harassment or jail—period,” Secretary Giannoulias told 404 Media in a statement.”
States Move To Keep Doctors Names Off of Abortion Pill Prescription Labels
The 19th, June 23, 2025
Out-of-state doctors are pushing for laws that will make it harder to detect who prescribes and sends abortion medication, as anti-abortion lawmakers look for ways to stop the flow of pills to their states. Patients have continued to receive abortion pills in states with near-total bans, so much so that the number of abortions has actually increased since the fall of Roe v. Wade, despite near-total abortion bans. This is mostly thanks to “shield laws.” Working from states like New York, California and Massachusetts, providers meet virtually with pregnant patients in states with bans and write them abortion pill prescriptions. Patients receive the pills in the mail to take from home. One in 5 abortions are now done through telehealth, according to the Society of Family Planning, and about half of those are for people getting care because of shield laws. Now, doctors are working to anonymize that process by pushing to hide the name of the prescriber from the labels of mifepristone and misoprostol — the two drugs used in medication abortions. The effort marks a new step in the escalating battle between states over whether and how people in America can get abortions — and to what extent individual states’ laws can influence medical care coming from another. Typically, prescription bottles include information such as the name of the doctor who prescribed medication, details about the medication and appropriate dosage, and the name of the patient receiving medication. But that information has become invaluable in civil and criminal cases filed by anti-abortion law enforcement officers. A handful of states — New York, Maine, Vermont and Washington — have already passed laws to remove prescriber names from abortion pill bottles. The legislative trend comes as abortion opponents are ramping up efforts to stop telehealth abortion.
The Future of Federal Abortion Data Collection Is Unclear
The 19th, June 23, 2025
A government watchdog says it’s unclear when — or even whether — we’ll know going forward how the end of national abortion protections impact Americans’ health outcomes, livelihoods and financial futures as the federal government turns away from abortion data collection indefinitely. A report released Monday by the Government Accountability Office and first shared exclusively with The 19th analyzed the existing data on the economic impact of abortion bans and found that government tracking has been very limited — and could become more so due to changes made by the Trump administration. The last federal data on the impact of abortion bans ends in 2022, when Roe v. Wade was overturned. That data is from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has been collecting data on the number of abortions and the demographics of those who obtain them in its Abortion Surveillance report for almost six decades. Since publishing the 2022 data in November (data is typically released on a two-year delay), it’s unclear whether the agency plans to continue the research. Though the CDC’s survey is voluntary and limited in scope — some states, including California, for example, don’t provide information — the report was one of the most reliable sources of government abortion data. Without it, there is no detailed federal data on what has happened since Roe was overturned. All of it hinges on whether the CDC continues to collect state abortion data at all. The CDC did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
ICYMI: In Case You Missed It
Ever wonder why it takes weeks or even months to see your primary care doctor? Or why you leave appointments with more questions than answers, feeling rushed the entire time? This is a common experience, and it’s not necessarily your doctor’s fault. The health care system is in a state of crisis.
We respect your privacy. Read our policy.
Note: The information contained in this publication reflects media coverage of women’s health issues and does not necessarily reflect the views of the National Partnership for Women & Families.
