Oct. 27 – The Pennsylvania High Court is weighing whether a state rule prohibiting low-income people from paying for abortions with state-sponsored health insurance violates their equal rights and discriminates against women.
The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania Wednesday heard oral arguments in a case about whether Medicaid can pay for abortions for low-income people. Activists have also called on judges to recognize a right to abortion in the state constitution, months after the United States Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that there was no such right under the WE Constitution.
Pennsylvania Medicaid, the state and federally funded health plan for low-income people, currently only covers abortion for rape, incest, and to save a woman’s life.
A supplier group led by Allegheny Reproductive Health Centerone of two abortion clinics in Pittsburgh, sued over the rule, arguing that it violates equal rights and discriminates against women. The Equal Rights Amendment of the Pennsylvania Constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex.
Lawyers representing the Pennsylvania Department of Social Serviceswho oversees Medicaid under the Democratic government. Tom Wolfand Republican state lawmakers called on the court to take a closer look at the issue, particularly whether pregnant women have the right to a taxpayer-funded abortion.
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“This is not a case about the right to abortion in Pennsylvania,” said Matthew Haversticka lawyer representing Pennsylvania senators who joined in challenging the lawsuit. “It’s a matter of funding.”
During the pleadings on Wednesday, the lawyers of the women’s rights centerrepresenting abortion providers, said Medicaid’s restriction on abortion coverage goes against Pennsylvania The Equal Rights Amendment, which states that services cannot be refused on the basis of sex.
Medicaid covers “most other” essential health services, including pregnancy, childbirth, and male reproductive health. If these services are covered, abortion should be too Susan J. Frietscheacting co-director of Women’s Rights Project.
“There just isn’t the comparable medical care that men need that Medicaid provides,” she said.
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Whether or not abortion is a constitutionally protected right, the state is not obligated to pay for it, Haverstick said.
“There are only a few times when the Commonwealth is required to pay for our exercise of Article I rights,” for example education, he said, referring to the Constitution part of Pennsylvania which details the basic rights of residents.
The court is expected to rule in the coming months.
Staff Writers Jeremy Roebuck and Jonathan Lai contributed to this article.
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