Anti-abortion groups are praising the Supreme Court’s majority decision to block state Medicaid funds from supporting Planned Parenthood, paving the way for red states to stop funding abortion with taxpayer dollars.

In a 6-3 decision, along ideological lines, the Supreme Court struck down a lawsuit on Thursday from Planned Parenthood and a patient challenging Gov. Henry McMaster’s (R-SC) 2018 decision to disqualify abortion providers from Medicaid reimbursements for abortion and nonabortion services alike. The justices ruled that the plaintiffs lacked the right to sue.

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Anti-abortion advocacy groups, like CatholicVote, argue that taxpayers shouldn’t fund or subsidize abortion when the medical practice goes against their moral conscience or religious beliefs.

“For too long, taxpayer dollars, including those of pro-life Americans and faithful Catholics, have been used to fund an industry built on the destruction of innocent human life,” CatholicVote President Kelsey Reinhardt said in a statement. “No one should be forced to subsidize abortion. Life is God’s most precious gift, beginning at the moment of conception and deserving of protection until natural death.”

According to one legal expert, the ruling now shields Medicaid from excessive litigation that could threaten the health insurance program.

“By rejecting Planned Parenthood’s lawfare, the court not only saves countless unborn babies from a violent death and their mothers from dangerously shoddy ‘care,’ it also protects Medicaid from exposure to thousands of lawsuits from unqualified providers that would jeopardize the entire program,” said Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America Director of Legal Affairs and policy counsel Katie Daniel.

“Planned Parenthood was rightly disqualified,” she added.

Thursday’s order also marks a departure from the court’s previous ruling in favor of Planned Parenthood or giving the abortion provider special treatment.

“The Court has long been skeptical of inventing new private rights of action, particularly in spending clause cases,” Judicial Crisis Network President Carrie Severino posted on X. “Once upon a time, the fact that it was Planned Parenthood asking for an exception to be made would have meant a likely 5-4 win. Today it was a 6-3 defeat as the Court declined to create a carve-out to the normal rules for the left-wing heavyweight.”

While anti-abortion groups describe the ruling as a significant victory for their side, abortion-rights activists are disappointed in the legal outcome.

“This decision will put fuel on the fire of the multi-year campaign to deny Medicaid patients their right to see Planned Parenthood providers for contraceptives, STI testing, and other non-abortion services,” said Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights.

The National Women’s Law Center similarly claimed that Medicaid patients in South Carolina “may lose access to birth control, cancer screenings, STI treatment & more at Planned Parenthood.” The abortion-rights nonprofit group also raised concerns that other states would follow South Carolina’s lead in disqualifying abortion providers, like Planned Parenthood, from Medicaid reimbursements.

The landmark decision comes as congressional Republicans work to defund the abortion industry through the budget reconciliation process. House Republicans passed the budget bill, including provisions that cut federal Medicaid funds to abortion providers, last month.

Senate Republicans are currently trying to advance what President Donald Trump dubbed the “one big, beautiful bill.” The Senate parliamentarian, however, rejected the Republican language that, in part, prohibited Planned Parenthood from receiving federal Medicaid funds because the provision violated the Byrd rule, which prevents the reconciliation bill from including non-budgetary items.

After the parliamentarian called for its removal from the legislation, Republican lawmakers urged Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) to fire Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough immediately. Sens. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) and Roger Marshall (R-KS) called for Thune to take action over the reconciliation rulings.

Thune said the Senate would not move to overrule its parliamentarian. “No, that would not be a good option for getting a bill done,” he told Politico on Thursday.

OBAMACARE ABORTION FUNDING RESTRICTION NIXED FROM MEGABILL BY PARLIAMENTARIAN

If Republicans successfully pass the anti-abortion provision along with the larger budget bill, abortion-rights advocacy groups worry the outcome could lead to the closure of approximately 200 Planned Parenthood clinics across the nation.

Congress “would force the closure of hundreds of Planned Parenthood health centers nationwide,” said Deirdre Schifeling, chief political and advocacy officer of the American Civil Liberties Union, “robbing people of their freedom to get reproductive healthcare from trusted providers in their communities and would result in shuttering 1 in 4 of the country’s abortion providers.”