On Thursday, the Supreme Court greenlit South Carolina’s efforts to remove abortion providers, such as Planned Parenthood, from the state’s Medicaid reimbursement program. Naturally, MSNBC’s Ana Cabrera Reports freaked out over the decision, with Law Prof. Leah Litman warning the move could lead to a rise in cancer.
Cabrera put the ball on the tee when she asked, “So, Leah, what do you see as the ramifications of this decision?”
Litman began by painting a gloomy scene, “I think the practical implications of this decision are going to be momentous. I mean, Medicaid serves as an important, you know, source of health insurance for so much of the American population. And what this decision does is it eliminates patient and provider’s ability to challenge states' decision to defund Planned Parenthood by refusing to reimburse Medicaid patients for any care that they obtain at a Planned Parenthood. So, who is this decision primarily going to affect? It is primarily going to affect the individuals living in rural areas that suffer from a shortage of primary care physicians.”
She added, “You know, statistics indicate 65 percent of rural areas have a shortage of primary care physicians and 76 percent of Planned Parenthood health centers are located in rural or medically underserved areas. So, by excluding Planned Parenthood from the Medicaid program, what states are doing is they are forcing individuals to find care elsewhere. That might be super long distances and very difficult to obtain.”
Currently, Planned Parenthood has two South Carolina locations, and they are in the very much non-rural cities of Columbia and Charleston.
Nevertheless, Litman continued to freak out, “And the effects of bouncing Planned Parenthood, we know, result in significant deprivations of care. After Kansas blocked its ability to obtain Medicaid reimbursement and care in Planned Parenthood, the state saw more than a 30 percent decline in the number of annual pelvic exams or cancer screenings. That's the sort of care that Planned Parenthood health centers provide in medically underserved areas that the states are now refusing to reimburse people for.”
That’s not exactly true. Here is how the AP put it in 2016, “The tiered system, which took effect in 2014 after an appeals court upheld its legality, made it harder for families to access medical services, particularly in the rural western part of the state, where Planned Parenthood closed a clinic in Hays and an unaffiliated family planning clinic shut down in Dodge City. The number of Kansans who received Title X services fell from 38,461 in 2011 to 24,047 in 2015 — a decrease of more than 37 percent, according to HHS.”
In other words, all of Title X services declined, not just pelvic exams or cancer screenings. That means one person getting a cancer screening counts the same as one person picking up some condoms. More importantly, declining numbers from 2011 to 2015 were not just a Kansas thing. For example, dark blue Hawaii’s fell by 29 percent, while then-Vice President Joe Biden’s home state of Delaware saw a 27 percent decline.
If MSNBC is going to try to fearmonger, they should at least try to get facts on their side.
Here is a transcript for the June 26 show:
MSNBC Ana Cabrera Reports
6/26/2025
10:19 AM ET
ANA CABRERA: So, Leah, what do you see as the ramifications of this decision?
LEAH LITMAN: I think the practical implications of this decision are going to be momentous. I mean, Medicaid serves as an important, you know, source of health insurance for so much of the American population. And what this decision does is it eliminates patient and provider’s ability to challenge states' decision to defund Planned Parenthood by refusing to reimburse Medicaid patients for any care that they obtain at a Planned Parenthood. So, who is this decision primarily going to affect? It is primarily going to affect the individuals living in rural areas that suffer from a shortage of primary care physicians.
You know, statistics indicate 65 percent of rural areas have a shortage of primary care physicians and 76 percent of Planned Parenthood health centers are located in rural or medically underserved areas. So, by excluding Planned Parenthood from the Medicaid program, what states are doing is they are forcing individuals to find care elsewhere. That might be super long distances and very difficult to obtain.
And the effects of bouncing Planned Parenthood, we know, result in significant deprivations of care. After Kansas blocked its ability to obtain Medicaid reimbursement and care in Planned Parenthood, the state saw more than a 30 percent decline in the number of annual pelvic exams or cancer screenings. That's the sort of care that Planned Parenthood health centers provide in medically underserved areas that the states are now refusing to reimburse people for.
