INDIANA – Attorney General Todd Rokita is leading a 16-state coalition asking the U.S. Supreme Court to end a private challenge of a state policy preventing abortion clinics from receiving Medicaid funds.
“Federal law has long prohibited Medicaid dollars from being used to fund abortions,” Attorney General Rokita said. “But abortion clinics skirt the law by accepting Medicaid funds for other services and using profits to subsidize their abortion business. The Supreme Court should enable state legislatures to close this loophole.”
The court should prohibit individuals and abortion providers from privately suing states that enforce such laws on behalf of taxpayers, Attorney General Rokita said.
In an amicus brief filed Monday, Attorney General Rokita specifically supports a South Carolina effort to exclude Planned Parenthood from being eligible for Medicaid funding — but previously Indiana and other states have also tried but were unsuccessful in taking similar action.
“The Supreme Court should help settle the issues at stake”, Attorney General Rokita said, “because federal appeals courts in different judicial circuits have reached conflicting decisions.”
“Hoosiers have the right to know that their tax dollars will not be used to end the lives of unborn children,” Attorney General Rokita said. “We are fighting for that right in the defense of those who cannot defend themselves.”
The amicus brief is attached.
