Gov. Ned Lamont says Connecticut will keep funding Planned Parenthood through Medicaid des

CONNECTICUT — Gov. Ned Lamont said that Medicaid in Connecticut will continue to fund Planned Parenthood, after the Supreme Court ruled states can block the country’s biggest abortion provider from receiving Medicaid money for health services such as contraception and cancer screenings on Thursday.

The 6-3 opinion by Justice Neil Gorsuch and joined by the rest of the court’s conservatives was not directly about abortion, but it comes as Republicans back a wider push across the country to defund the organization. It closes off Planned Parenthood’s primary court path to keeping Medicaid funding in place: patient lawsuits.

"Let me be clear: This will not happen in Connecticut," Lamont posted on X.

Public health care money generally cannot be used to pay for abortions, but Medicaid patients go to Planned Parenthood for other needs in part because it can be difficult to find a doctor who takes the publicly funded insurance, the organization has said.

"While this is yet another attack on reproductive health, we’re not turning our backs on the people who count on Planned Parenthood for care. We’ll keep funding it here, because health care is a human right," Lamont said.

The justices found that while Medicaid law allows people to choose their own provider, that does not make it a right enforceable in court. The court split along ideological lines, with the three liberals dissenting in the case from South Carolina.

White House spokesman Harrison Fields called the opinion “a major victory for common sense” and said it underscores the Trump Administration’s position that states should determine abortion policy.

With reporting from The Associated Press.