Texas Supreme Court To Hear Case Mandating Medicaid Coverage for ‘Medically Necessary’ Abortions

The Texas Supreme Court on Nov. 28 will hear arguments in the case over whether the state should fund "medically necessary" abortions for Medicaid beneficiaries, the AP/Dallas Morning News reports (Vertuno, AP/Dallas Morning News, 11/26). The 1976 Hyde Amendment bars federal Medicaid funding of abortions, although recent amendments have allowed such coverage in cases of rape, incest or when the woman's life is in danger, and some states allow state Medicaid funds to pay for "medically necessary" abortions, in which a physician deems that a woman's health is endangered (Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report, 4/2). Under current Texas law, state Medicaid money may only cover abortions in cases of rape, incest or when the woman's life is in danger. In 1998, a group of doctors and family planning clinics filed suit on behalf of Medicaid-eligible women, stating that not funding medically necessary abortions violates the Texas constitution's guarantee of equal rights. In December 2000, the Third Court of Appeals sided with the doctors, ruling that the state law is discriminatory partly because there is not a comparable procedure for men that is subject to the same restrictions (Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report, 8/24). Texas Attorney General John Cornyn (R) appealed the appellate court's decision to the Texas Supreme Court, stating that the purpose of the state's restriction on abortion funding "is to encourage childbirth over abortion." The U.S. Supreme Court previously ruled that the restrictions on federal Medicaid funding for abortions do not violate equal protection under the U.S. Constitution (Vertuno, AP/Houston Chronicle, 11/26). Texas Right to Life Committee spokesperson Courtney Facciponte said that the standard for medically necessary abortions is "too broad" and that state taxpayers "could be forced to pay for thousands of abortions for poor women" if the restrictions are lifted. But Kae McLaughlin, executive director of the Texas chapter of the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League, said that Texas law currently "amounts to denying poor women their right to choose an abortion" (AP/Dallas Morning News, 11/26). Kathy Walt, spokesperson for Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R), said that the governor only supports abortion in cases of rape, incest and endangerment of a woman's life, and he does not support using taxpayer funds to pay for abortions (AP/Houston Chronicle, 11/26).