WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), today joined 23 of his Senate Republican colleagues in submitting an amicus brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case of Gee v. Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast. A Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in the case currently bars states from prohibiting taxpayer funding for abortion business Planned Parenthood through Medicaid.
“Taxpayers should not be forced to fund an abortion business like Planned Parenthood,” said Dr. Cassidy. “States should be able to decide which entities can participate in their Medicaid programs, so I hope the Supreme Court will choose to consider this issue.”
Other senators submitting the amicus brief include Roger Wicker (R-MS), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), John Kennedy (R-LA), John Cornyn (R-TX), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Mike Enzi (R-WY), Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Roy Blunt (R-MO), John Barrasso (R-WY), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Pat Roberts (R-KS), Deb Fischer (R-NE), John Boozman (R-AR), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Tim Scott (R-SC), James Risch (R-ID), Steve Daines (R-MT), and Chuck Grassley (R-IA).
In the amicus brief, the senators challenge the Fifth Circuit’s ruling based on their interpretation of congressional intent in the Medicaid Act and state sovereignty in granting Medicaid provider status. They argue the Supreme Court should hear the case because circuit courts have offered contradictory opinions in similar cases.
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