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. 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 and wished to continue with this care.

The plaintiffs claimed that on May 10, 2016, the Mississippi 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 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 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 III noted that the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals had found similarly in the September 14, 2016 case, Planned Parenthood of Gulf Coast, Inc. v. Gee. He therefore issued a permanent injunction to enjoin the defendant from enforcing the law in question.

On November 18, 2016, the defendant appealed the ruling to the Fifth Circuit of the United States Court of Appeals because the defendant in Planned Parenthood of Gulf Coast, Inc. v. Gee had petitioned for a rehearing.

The case has been stayed at the lower court. In the appellate court, the case has been stayed pending the United States Supreme Court’s resolution of the Petition for Writ of
Certiorari that is expected to be filed in Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, Inc. v.
Gee.

Gabriela Hybel - 03/03/2017
Lisa Limb - 03/23/2018


compress summary