US EditionPennsylvania court overturns limits on Medicaid coverage for abortions
The divided Commonwealth Court said the Pennsylvania constitution protects abortion rights and ordered the state to revisit Medicaid coverage limits.
- On Monday, the Commonwealth Court ruled that the Pennsylvania constitution guarantees a right to abortion, striking down a 1982 law banning state Medicaid funds from covering abortion costs.
- Planned Parenthood and clinic operators first sued Pennsylvania over Medicaid restrictions in 2019; the case stakes expanded after the Supreme Court ended federal abortion protections in 2022 by overturning Roe v. Wade.
- According to Susan Frietsche, executive director of the Law Project, the court held that there is a "right to reproductive autonomy" at the highest constitutional level.
- Michael Geer, president of the Pennsylvania Family Institute, claimed the ruling forces taxpayers to "subsidize the killing of unborn children," while Attorney General David Sunday is reviewing the decision.
- Governor Josh Shapiro praised the decision, stating he "long opposed this unconstitutional ban." The case could still be appealed to the Supreme Court.
86 Articles
86 Articles
Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court Overturns Ban on Medicaid Coverage for Abortions - Bucks County Beacon
Women’s reproductive rights – and abortion access – won big Monday in Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court. The high court ruled in support of reproductive health care – including abortion – as a right under Pennsylvania’s Constitution. The decision overturned the state’s previous decades-long law that banned Medicaid funds for women seeking an abortion, as well as enshrining the right to access to reproductive health care. The Philadelphia-based…
Pennsylvania Capital-Star
WFMZCommonwealth Court rules the state constitution includes a fundamental right to abortion
Pennsylvania’s Constitution grants the fundamental right to reproductive autonomy, a state court ruled Monday. (Capital-Star photo)(*This article was updated at 8:38 p.m., April 20, 2026, to include a response from State Treasurer Stacy Garrity, the presumptive Republican nominee for governor. It also corrected the spelling of Susan Frietsche’s name.) Pennsylvania’s Constitution grants the fundamental right to reproductive autonomy, a state cou…
Pa. court strikes down state ban on using Medicaid for abortions
The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ruled Monday that the state can't ban Medicaid coverage for abortions. The court's majority determined the existing policy violates women's constitutional right to reproductive autonomy.
ABC FOX Montana
Shapiro speaks on ruling against state ban on Medicaid for abortion
Harrisburg, Pa. — Pennsylvania's Commonwealth Court ruled the state's ban on Medicaid coverage for abortion care unconstitutional, affirming reproductive autonomy as a fundamental right.
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