News & Events » News Archive » 2001 Press Releases
Florida Supreme Court Denies Abortion Medicaid Coverage to Low-Income Women
July 12, 2001
Tallahassee, Florida ? The Florida Supreme Court ruled today that low-income women with severe illnesses such as Grave's Disease, diabetes, lupus, and congenital heart disease are not entitled to Medicaid-funded, medically necessary abortions that could preserve their health. The Center for Reproductive Law and Policy (CRLP) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Florida argued that the ban, which was upheld last year by the First District Court of Appeal, violates women's right to choose abortion by denying them Medicaid coverage for potentially life-saving procedures.
"Today's decision ignores the profound effect that the funding ban has on poor women's ability to choose abortion in order to preserve their health if they suffer from conditions such as cancer and renal disease," said Bonnie Scott Jones, CRLP Staff Attorney and co-counsel on the case along with Larry Spalding, of the ACLU of Florida.
CRLP and the ACLU of Florida sued the state of Florida on privacy and equal protection grounds. Today's decision affirmed the ban solely on the privacy issue and refused to consider the claim that a failure to cover medically necessary abortions is tantamount to sex discrimination, stating that the lower courts did not address the issue. "It's outrageous for the state to provide a full range of reproductive health services to eligible men, including coverage for Viagra, yet turn around and deny similar health choices to poor women," said the ACLU of Florida's Larry Spalding. The Supreme Court's dissent stated that "[This] issue . . . demands resolution and will undoubtedly wind its way back to this Court. In sum, the majority's act of judicial restraint appears to be without justification."
The majority of states examining Medicaid coverage for medically necessary abortions have determined that such bans are unconstitutional and have struck them down, including recent decisions in Arizona, Indiana and Texas.
Plaintiffs in Renee B. v. State of Florida include three Medicaid-eligible women, seven reproductive health care clinics, and two physicians. They are: Presidential Women's Center, Inc., Florida Women's Medical Clinic, Inc., Aware Woman Medical Center, Aware Woman Center for Choice, Inc., Aware Woman Health Center, Feminist Women's Health Center in Tallahassee, Inc., Central Florida Women's Organization Inc., Randall Brooks Whitney, M.D., and Michael Benjamin, M.D. Plaintiffs are represented by Bonnie Scott Jones of CRLP and Larry Spalding of the ACLU of Florida.
