On June 15, 2016, Planned Parenthood Southeast, Inc. (PPSE), Planned Parenthood Greater Memphis Region, Inc. (PPGMR), and a Mississippi Medicaid patient filed this lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi. The plaintiffs sued the Mississippi Division of Medicaid under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging violations of the Medicaid Statute and the Equal Protection Clause and Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The plaintiffs, represented by the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, asked the court for declaratory and injunctive relief to enjoin the defendant from disqualifying the provider plaintiffs from the Medicaid programs. On July 6, 2016, the plaintiffs filed a final amended complaint. The amended complaint added Jane Doe #2 as a fourth plaintiff. Both Jane Doe #1 and Jane Doe #2 were Mississippi residents and Medicaid patients who received reproductive care from Planned Parenthood.

The plaintiffs claimed that on May 10, 2016, Mississippi's Governor signed into law an act that would disqualify any entity that performs abortions from participation in Medicaid programs. The plaintiffs claimed that the act would irreparably harm Mississippi men and women, such as the two Jane Does, who rely on Planned Parenthood for critical health services. They argued that the act violated the Medicaid Free Choice Act (42 U.S.C. § 1396a(a)(23)), which guarantees patients the right to choose any willing and qualified provider within the Medicaid Program. They further argued that it violated the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment by singling out Planned Parenthood for unfavorable treatment and imposing unconstitutional conditions on Planned Parenthood's eligibility to participate in the Medicaid Program.

On October 20, 2016, Judge Daniel P. Jordan III granted the plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment. The court found that virtually every court that had ruled on similar laws had found the laws in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1396a(a)(23). Specifically, Judge Jordan noted that the Fifth Circuit had reached a similar result in Planned Parenthood of Gulf Coast, Inc. v. Gee. He therefore issued a permanent injunction to enjoin the defendant from enforcing the law in question. 2016 WL 6127980.

On November 18, 2016, the defendant appealed the ruling to the Fifth Circuit because the defendant in Planned Parenthood of Gulf Coast, Inc. v. Gee had petitioned for a rehearing and later asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene. This case was stayed pending the resolution of Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, Inc. v. Gee. Briefing resumed in the Fifth Circuit on January 11, 2019.

Shortly after, on February 15, 2019, the parties filed a joint motion to stay the case again, this time pending the result of Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas v. Phillips. The stay was approved on February 20. As of April, 2020, this case is ongoing but stayed.

Gabriela Hybel - 03/03/2017
Lisa Limb - 03/23/2018
Alex Moody - 04/15/2020


compress summary