Pennsylvania case challenging ban on Medicaid abortions back in court

Pennsylvania’s supreme court ruled on Monday that a lower court must hear a case challenging a ban on the use of government-funded healthcare to pay for abortions, raising hopes among reproductive rights advocates for an expansion of abortion access in the state and the establishment of a constitutional right to the procedure.

The case, brought by abortion providers in the state, challenged a decades-old state law barring Medicaid from covering abortions, arguing that it should be overturned because it violates the broader rights guaranteed by the state constitution’s Equal Rights Amendment.

Related: High stakes for abortion rights as Pennsylvania votes on key judge pick

Monday’s 3-2 ruling both overturns a lower court decision to dismiss the case and puts aside a 1985 state supreme court court decision that upheld the law banning the use of state Medicaid dollars for abortion, except in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother.

The majority said the lower court must reconsider whether Medicaid can legally draw a distinction “between pregnant women on Medical Assistance who would seek to obtain abortions and pregnant women on Medical Assistance who would seek to carry their pregnancies to term”.

Two of the justices also wrote that abortion is a “fundamental right” under Pennsylvania’s constitution, signaling the possibility of a broader ruling if the case makes its way back up to the state’s highest court.

In 2022, the US supreme court overturned the landmark Roe v Wade decision, ending the constitutional right to abortion across the country and leaving the decision up to individual states. Since then, a number of state courts have been forced to contend with legal questions around access the procedure.

Abortions remain legal in Pennsylvania until 24 weeks, but a 1982 law barred the use of Medicaid to pay for the procedure. A lower court will now decide the constitutionality of that law.

“The Court gave our clients an enormous victory this morning,” said Susan J Frietsche, co-executive director of the Women’s Law Project and one of the lawyers who argued the case. “We are still determining next steps, but we are confident the Medicaid abortion ban will be consigned to the scrapheap of history very soon.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report