WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) issued the following statement in response to the Supreme Court’s decision in Medina v. Planned Parenthood, which permitted states to bar people on Medicaid from going to doctor’s offices that perform abortions regardless of the kind of care they’re seeking:
“Today, the Supreme Court decided that people in our country do not have the right to choose the medical care they want despite a longstanding law saying just the opposite.
“This case was not about abortion. It was about South Carolina cutting off poor women’s access to health care and consigning them to disease and death. This ruling will mean millions of women may be forced to go without basic and lifesaving preventive care: mammograms, cervical cancer screenings, and prenatal visits that ensure pregnancies are healthy and successful.
“This comes as the Trump administration and congressional Republicans are trying to strip away even more health coverage through their harmful and unpopular tax bill. In Delaware alone, as many as 1 in 5 people on Medicaid could lose coverage so that Republicans can give tax breaks to some of the richest people on Earth.
“Women should not have to fear being pregnant in America. Women should not have to miss doctor’s appointments because they can’t afford to go. Women should not have to drive hours to find a doctor who accepts their insurance. The Supreme Court may feel otherwise, but I will never stop fighting to restore every woman’s right to see her chosen doctor and make the decisions that are best for her and her family.”