Planned Parenthood leaders in the Bay Area are closely monitoring a United States Supreme Court case that could have a major impact on women's health care, including in some case whether the patient gets to choose their doctor.
The case involves South Carolina's attempt to strip Planned Parenthood of Medicaid funding.
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WATCH HERE"The impacts will be felt in communities that already have a lack of access to primary health care in obstetrics and gynecological care," said Mary Zeigler, a law professor at the University of California, Davis. "And there won't be a recourse if the Supreme Court rules the way South Carolina wants them to."
Competing activists gathered Wednesday in front of the White House sounding off on funding for Planned Parenthood. While the protests occurred while the high court heard oral arguments in the South Carolina case to determine whether Medicaid users can sue in order to pick their preferred health care provider, including Planned Parenthood.
In a statement, the president of the Planned Parenthood Northern California said "If the court sides with these efforts it could give other states the green light to discriminate against providers with patients suffering the most by the loss of health care services they need."
The case dates back to an earlier South Carolina decision that stripped state funding from Planned Parenthood because it provides abortion services.
The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule on the case by June.
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