Allegheny Reprod. Health v. PA DHS (majority)
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In the case at hand, a group of reproductive health centers and Planned Parenthood affiliates in Pennsylvania challenged the constitutionality of sections of the Pennsylvania Abortion Control Act and corresponding regulations which prohibit the use of state Medicaid funds for abortions except in cases of rape, incest, or to avert the death of the mother. The petitioners argued that the exclusion of abortion from Medicaid coverage violated the Equal Rights Amendment and equal protection provisions of the Pennsylvania Constitution. However, the lower court ultimately dismissed their petition for review.
The petitioners appealed to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, asking it to address three issues. These were whether the petitioners had standing to bring these claims on behalf of Medicaid patients seeking an abortion, whether the lower court should not have allowed individual members of the Pennsylvania legislature to intervene as respondents, and ultimately whether the coverage exclusion violated the Pennsylvania Constitution.
Regarding the standing question, the Supreme Court determined that the providers successfully showed that they were aggrieved by the coverage exclusion, so they had standing to pursue the claims. On the second question, the Court found that the members of the legislature should not be permitted to intervene in the case, since it was unpersuaded by the argument that striking down the exclusion would affect their authority to appropriate government funds.
Finally, the Court overruled its interpretation of the Equal Rights Amendment and a constitutional non-discrimination provision in a preceding case. It provided certain standards for evaluating claims under these constitutional provisions and remanded to the lower court to apply the appropriate standards.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
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