Supreme Court rules on South Carolina’s effort to defund Planned Parenthood

The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that South Carolina has the power to block Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood clinics, in a technical interpretation over healthcare choices that has emerged as a larger political fight over abortion access.

The case, Medina v. Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, centers on whether low-income Medicaid patients can sue under what is known as Section 1983 – part of the Civil Rights Act of 1871 – in order to choose their own qualified healthcare provider. 

It involves South Carolina’s blocking of Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood South Atlantic, which the organization argued violated federal law. In a 6-3 decision, the Court noted that the typical redress for such a violation would be for the Secretary of Health and Human Services to withhold Medicaid funding from the state, not for an individual to sue the state.

“Section 1983 permits private plaintiffs to sue for violations of federal spending-power statutes only in ‘atypical’ situations … where the provision in question ‘clear[ly]’ and ‘unambiguous[ly]’ confers an individual ‘right,’” Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in the majority opinion, ruling that the law in question in the present case “is not such a statute.” 

SUPREME COURT DIVIDED OVER STATE EFFORT TO DEFUND PLANNED PARENTHOOD

“After all, the decision whether to let private plaintiffs enforce a new statutory right poses delicate questions of public policy,” Gorsuch added. “New rights for some mean new duties for others. And private enforcement actions, meritorious or not, can force governments to direct money away from public services and spend it instead on litigation. The job of resolving how best to weigh those competing costs and benefits belongs to the people’s elected representatives, not unelected judges charged with applying the law as they find it.”

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster had been pushing to block public health dollars from going to Planned Parenthood, but a resident and patient at Planned Parenthood South Atlantic argued that doing so violated her rights under the Medicaid Act. 

The key provision in the 1965 Medicaid Act guarantees patients a “free choice of provider” that is willing and qualified. Much of the conflict dealt with whether Planned Parenthood was a “qualified provider” under the Medicaid law, and whether individual patients have an unambiguous “right” to sue to see their provider of choice, under its specific language.

Writing for the dissent, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson – joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan – called the approach taken by South Carolina and the Court’s majority “a narrow and ahistorical reading” of Section 1983.

“That venerable provision permits any citizen to obtain redress in federal court for ‘the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws’ of the United States,” Jackson wrote. “South Carolina asks us to hollow out that provision so that the State can evade liability for violating the rights of its Medicaid recipients to choose their own doctors.”

Federal law already prohibits Medicaid money from going to pay for abortions, with very limited exceptions. South Carolina bans almost all abortions around six weeks after conception, or when cardiac activity is detected, with limited exceptions.

In South Carolina, Medicaid patients often seek out Planned Parenthood because it accepts publicly funded insurance. Blocking the provider from Medicaid networks could effectively defund it.

There are just two Planned Parenthood clinics in South Carolina, but every year they take hundreds of low-income patients for reproductive healthcare, including contraception, cancer screenings and pregnancy testing, according to the Associated Press.

Planned Parenthood South Atlantic has argued that the case is not about abortion, but about access to general healthcare. 

SUPREME COURT WILL HEAR PRO-LIFE NONPROFIT’S FREE SPEECH FIGHT AGAINST NEW JERSEY

The case stretches back to 2018, before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, when McMaster signed an executive order directing the South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to remove abortion clinics, including Planned Parenthood South Atlantic (PPSAT), from the state’s Medicaid provider list. The governor said Medicaid money for the state’s two Planned Parenthood clinics amounted to taxpayers subsidizing abortions. 

The action essentially barred low-income patients from receiving other services from PPSAT in Columbia and Charleston, including gynecological exams, birth control, cancer screenings, and testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Lower courts had put that order on hold, leading to the current case.

The conservative group Alliance Defending Freedom has argued that a win for South Carolina would still mean Medicaid patients could go to one of 200 other publicly funded healthcare clinics in the state. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals previously sided with Planned Parenthood, ruling that Medicaid patients could sue over their legal right to choose their own qualified provider – a ruling that the Supreme Court ultimately reversed.

Rapper 50 Cent offers NYC mayoral hopeful one-way ticket out after hearing tax proposal

50 Cent offered to pay for New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani to leave the state on Wednesday after learning about his tax plan from an interview that referenced the rapper.

The video he referenced was from “The Breakfast Club” podcast on June 11 where Mamdani appeared while campaigning for the Democratic primary earlier this month. During the interview, Mamdani explained his goal of raising corporate taxes to pay for plans to “Trump-proof” the city.

“We’re talking about corporations that are making millions of dollars, not in revenue, but in profit,” Mamdani said. “And the second is taxing the top 1% of New Yorkers. We’re talking about people who make a million dollars a year or more, taxing them just by a flat 2% tax increase.” 

BERNIE SANDERS, AOC-BACKED MAYORAL CANDIDATE PLANNING MASSIVE SPENDING INCREASES IN NYC

He added, “I know if 50 Cent is listening, he’s not going to be happy about this. He tends to not like this tax policy, but I want to be very clear this is about $20,000 a year. It’s a rounding error. And all of these things together, they make every New Yorker’s life better, including those who are actually getting taxed now.”

50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis James Jackson III, later responded to Mamdani’s comments on Instagram.

“Where did he come from? Whose friend is this? I’m not feeling this plan. No. I will give him $258,750 and a first class one-way ticket away from NY. I’m telling Trump what he said too!” 50 Cent wrote.

Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani’s team for a comment.

CITY-RUN GROCERY STORES, DEFUNDING POLICE, SAFE INJECTION SITES: WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT NYC’S NEXT POTENTIAL MAYOR

50 Cent notably endorsed President Donald Trump in 2020 after learning that then-candidate Joe Biden’s tax plan would tax New York at a rate of 58% and New York City at a rate of 62%.

“WHAT THE F–K! (VOTE For TRUMP) IM OUT,” Jackson wrote on Instagram. “F–K NEW YORK The KNICKS never win anyway. I don’t care Trump doesn’t like black people 62% are you out of ya f–king mind.” He later walked back that endorsement. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Owner of 175-year-old farm ‘shocked’ as local officials try to grab his land

A 175-year-old family farm in New Jersey is fighting to stay afloat as its co-owner is speaking out against efforts by the local government to seize the land for affordable housing.

Andy Henry discussed his and his brother Christopher’s historic farm in Cranbury, New Jersey, and how they are fighting back against the eminent domain initiative during “Fox & Friends.”

“We got a letter on April 24 informing us of this unfortunate decision that they [Cranbury officials] wanted to take the entire 21 acres,” Henry said on Wednesday.

“So, of course, ever since then, we’ve been pushing back. And now they’re saying, ‘Well, actually, we’ll just take half of it and leave the house.’ That would leave us with a non-viable farm for at least 40 cows and many sheep.”

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM BATTLE ERUPTS AS NEW JERSEY TOWN ATTEMPTS TO TURN CHURCH PROPERTY INTO PICKLEBALL COURTS

The Cranbury Township Committee announced an affordable housing plan that will allow local officials to seize the Henry family farm through an eminent domain seizure. This stems from a New Jersey mandate ordering that towns in the state build more than 146,00 affordable housing units by 2035, according to a NJ.com report. 

RIGHTEOUS HARVEST: HOW FAITH AND FARMING CAN HELP US LIVE THE AMERICAN DREAM

“It makes me feel terrible,” Henry said. “It was a shock. We are surrounded by warehouses, been turning down developers for years. We just wanted to be left alone and take care of our place like my ancestors did before us.”

The Henry family bought the farm in 1850 and have turned down developers for years in an effort to keep the property in the family. 

“Fox & Friends” co-host Ainsley Earhardt asked Henry what the farm property meant to his family, whose descendants had owned the land since before the Civil War. He remarked that it symbolized much more than just his family, but the entire Cranbury community as a whole.

BUSINESS OWNERS TAKE ON CITY THEY SAY IS PLAYING ‘MUSICAL CHAIRS’ WITH PROPERTY IN EMINENT DOMAIN CASE

“It’s a part of our legacy, and I’ve said it’s part of the town of Cranbury, too,” Henry said. “It’s a historic farm which helped the town to grow. I mean, you couldn’t go to a grocery store then; the farmers were providing the food directly around the town.”

Cranbury residents have shown strong support for the Henry farm. A GoFundMe created to help the family pay for legal costs has raised over $100,000 as of June 26.

The case has also attracted the Trump administration’s attention. 

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins took notice of the Henrys’ land battle earlier this month, writing in an X post that “the Biden-style government takeover of our family farms is over,” and that the USDA is “exploring every legal option” in aiding this particular case and similar ones across the United States.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

88-year-old Democrat says she’ll seek re-election, but office backtracks

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, an octogenarian Democrat who represents Washington, D.C., in the House but cannot vote to pass legislation, said that she will seek re-election — but then her office walked back her comment.

NBC News’ Sahil Kapur noted in a Wednesday post on X that Norton said, “Yeah, I’m gonna run for re-election.”

But Axios reported that later, Norton spokesperson Sharon Nichols told the outlet, “No decision has been made. She wants to run but is still discussing it with people closest to her.”

The same sort of back-peddling occurred earlier this month as well: Kapur noted in a June 10 post on X that Norton said she will run. 

‘FOR SALE’: DOGE MOVES TO SELL OFF ALMOST HALF A BILLION IN FEDERAL REAL ESTATE, RELOCATE CABINET AGENCY HQS

But then her office walked Norton’s comment back, according to Axios, which reported that Nichols noted that Norton “wants to run again, but she’s in conversations with her family, friends and closest advisers to decide what’s best.”

The New York Times reported that in a statement after saying she would run, Norton seemed to backtrack, noting that “through thoughtful discussions with my friends, family and closest advisers, I’m still considering my options for the next election cycle.”

WATCH: PROTESTERS AT DC PARADE JUSTIFY VIOLENT TACTICS ‘AS LONG AS THEY DON’T HURT ANYONE’

Fox News Digital reached out to Norton’s office on Thursday morning.

Norton, who just turned 88-years-old this month, has served as the D.C. delegate in the House since 1991. 

ANTI-TRUMP WASHINGTON POST COLUMNIST ADMITS HE LOVED MILITARY PARADE

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“DC’s Delegate in the US House of Representatives (currently Eleanor Holmes Norton) can sit on and vote in Committees, can introduce legislation, can participate in legislative debates, but she cannot vote on bills being considered by the full House,” according to statehood.dc.gov.

Harvard scientist faces new charges for allegedly smuggling bio materials

The Harvard University scientist accused of smuggling frog embryos into the United States was slapped with additional federal charges Wednesday as she faces the possibility of decades in prison for allegedly failing to disclose the biological materials. 

Russian-born scientist Kseniia Petrova, 30, was indicted by a Boston federal grand jury on one count of concealment of a material fact, one count of smuggling goods into the U.S. and one count of false statement. 

Petrova, a scientist studying cancer research at Harvard, was initially charged with smuggling last month and will remain on pretrial release despite the new charges. 

IVY LEAGUE BIO SMUGGLING SUSPECT WITH TIES TO AMERICAN ADVERSARY GETS BREAK FROM FEDERAL JUDGE

The researcher was arrested after she was stopped by U.S. Customs and Border Protection at Boston Logan International Airport while returning from a vacation to France in February. Petrova told officers she had picked up a package of superfine sections of frog embryos while on her trip with the intention of using the samples for research.

Petrova was subsequently informed her visa was being canceled, and she was taken into custody by immigration officials in Vermont following her arrest. 

Harvard University and an attorney representing Petrova did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

JUDGE TAKES STEP TOWARD POSSIBLE RELEASE OF DETAINED RUSSIAN HARVARD SCIENTIST ACCUSED OF SMUGGLING

In an April interview with The Associated Press, Petrova insisted she was unaware of her responsibility to declare the items, claiming she did not intend to sneak anything into the country. 

However, federal prosecutors allege text messages from Petrova’s phone reveal a colleague informed the scientist she was required to declare the biological materials prior to traveling through TSA, according to the Department of Justice. 

“If you bring samples or antibody back, make sure you get the permission etc,” the friend reportedly texted Petrova before her trip. “Like that link I sent to [the group chat] about frog embryos because TSA went through my bags at customs in Boston.”

RUSSIAN-BORN HARVARD RESEARCHER CHARGED WITH SMUGGLING IN FEDERAL COURT

Following her arrest in Vermont, Petrova filed a petition seeking her release and was later sent to an ICE detention facility in Louisiana. A judge later ruled the actions of the immigration officers were unlawful, with a federal grand jury initially charging Petrova with one count of smuggling. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

If convicted, Petrova faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the smuggling charge, and up to five years in prison and an additional $250,000 on charges of concealment of material fact and false statements. 

Federal judge faces urgent plea in migrant case as Trump admin vows detention

Lawyers for Salvadorian migrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia filed an emergency motion Thursday asking a federal judge to order their client’s return to Maryland, and to block ICE officials from deporting him while his criminal case in Tennessee continues to play out.

In an emergency filing, lawyers for Abrego Garcia urged U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis to order their client’s return to the District of Maryland “immediately upon his release from confinement” in the Middle District of Tennessee, and for the judge to order the Trump administration to refrain from moving their client outside the U.S., or the District of Maryland, ahead of his criminal trial in Tennessee.

It’s the latest move in a months-long legal fight over the status of the wrongfully deported Salvadorian migrant. 

US JUDGE BLASTS TRUMP LAWYERS FOR 11TH-HOUR TACTICS IN MS-13 DEPORTATION CASE

In the filing, Abrego Garcia’s lawyers clarified they are not seeking to litigate his Tennessee criminal case — a separate matter from the civil case Xinis handled earlier this year, when she ordered Abrego Garcia’s return from El Salvador after he was deported in March in what Trump officials called an administrative error.

Abrego Garcia’s March deportation kicked off a months-long court fight to secure his release and return to U.S. soil, despite both a federal court order and a Supreme Court ruling requiring the administration to “facilitate” his return. The government eventually complied after months of delay and threats from a federal judge in Maryland to pursue potential contempt proceedings. 

Upon return, he was immediately taken into custody for alleged federal crimes stemming from a 2022 traffic stop — prompting a flurry of questions as to when the investigation and impaneling of a grand jury, which indicted him on May 21, 2025, would have taken place.

TRUMP’S REMARKS COULD COME BACK TO BITE HIM IN ABREGO GARCIA DEPORTATION BATTLE

Lawyers for Abrego Garcia told Xinis Thursday that their motion “simply seeks to ensure that when Abrego Garcia is released from criminal custody, he returns to, and remains in, this District (other than to travel to Tennessee as needed), until further order from this Court.”

Their remarks come just days after a federal magistrate judge in Tennessee ordered Abrego Garcia’s release pending trial in his criminal case. 

U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes said in her Sunday order that the government failed to prove its case during an arraignment hearing earlier this month that Abrego Garcia was a “serious risk” of fleeing or obstructing justice if he were to be released pending trial for the criminal charges.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP 

The Trump administration has repeatedly vowed that Abrego Garcia would be taken into ICE detention, should he be released from federal custody — something the new emergency order sought to prevent. 

“If this Court does not act swiftly, then the Government is likely to whisk Abrego Garcia away to some place far from Maryland,” lawyers told Xinis on Thursday. 

Absolute embarrassment’: DHS slams Miami Herald over migrant children claims

Members of the White House and Trump administration are hitting back hard against “false reporting” from the mainstream media outlet, the Miami Herald, which alleged that the administration was targeting migrant foster children for deportations. 

In a Wednesday article by the Miami Herald titled “Trump administration targets Florida foster kids, migrant youth for deportations,” the Miami Herald reported that the “Trump administration’s mass-deportation campaign is encircling vulnerable children who were previously off-limits — and squeezing the social welfare agencies tasked with caring for them.”

The outlet said that “since Donald Trump began his second term, his administration has directed immigration agents to target unaccompanied minors, moved to cut contracts that fund their legal representation and sent Homeland Security agents to homes where unaccompanied children are released to conduct welfare checks.”

The outlet also reported that the Trump administration is fast tracking deportations for minors who are documented victims of abuse, neglect or abandonment. 

TRUMP DHS SUES ENTIRE BENCH OF FEDERAL JUDGES IN MARYLAND DISTRICT COURT OVER AUTOMATIC INJUNCTIONS

“The new guidance leaves unprotected those children who lack the ability to apply for lawful permanent residency because visas aren’t available — at the very moment when there is a years-long backlog for green cards,” wrote the Miami Herald. 

However, Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, quickly shot back against the Miami Herald’s accusations, saying, calling the story an “absolute embarrassment to journalism.” 

“This story is completely false,” said McLaughlin. 

Contrary to the Miami Herald’s reporting, McLaughlin said DHS was “leading efforts to conduct welfare checks on these children to ensure they are safe and not being exploited.” 

HOSPITALS IN SANCTUARY CITIES COULD BE MOST VULNERABLE TO IRAN TERROR ATTACKS, WARNS EXPERT

She said that President Donald Trump and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem “take the responsibility to protect children seriously and are working with law enforcement to reunite the hundreds of thousands of migrant children the Biden Administration lost.” 

In response to the article, the Department of Homeland Security’s official X account posted a message pointing out that around 300,000 unaccompanied children were lost under the Biden administration. 

DHS said that Trump and Noem are working to “reunite the children the Biden Administration lost.” 

Trump border czar Tom Homan also weighed in, posting on X that “under Joe Biden’s watch, hundreds of thousands of migrant kids were trafficked across the border, many turned over to pedophiles and forced labor.”

TRUMP DHS CONTESTS CLAIM THAT ICE DENIED PREGNANT WOMAN CARE: ‘ABSOLUTELY FALSE’

“We are rescuing the children Joe Biden condemned. The Miami Herald should report on that,” added Homan. 

Meanwhile, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson called the story “disgusting and false reporting.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP 

Jackson told Fox News Digital that “the Miami Herald should apologize for their outrageous, false reporting.” 

“The Trump Administration is working to find the hundreds of thousands of kids that Joe Biden turned over the sex-traffickers, pedophiles, and forced labor,” she said. “But apparently the Miami Herald would rather run cover for these disastrous policies than report on the facts.”

The Miami Herald did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

Popular fast-food chain quietly launches massive expansion across America

Raising Cane’s, a popular fast-food chain specializing in chicken fingers, is continuing to increase its restaurant count.

Three new Raising Cane’s restaurants began serving customers on Tuesday, and according to a representative for the company, more openings are coming.

The trio of locations that opened earlier this week are located in Ontario, Ohio; Wichita, Kansas; and Wethersfield, Connecticut. 

RAISING CANE’S FOUNDER TODD GRAVES, SUPER BOWL LIX PARADE KING, PROVING NEW ORLEANS CAN BE A GREAT BUSINESS HUB

The company has five restaurant openings planned for July, including one launching in Visalia, California, at the beginning of the month.

Las Vegas, Nevada, is poised to have a new location on July 15, and a Raising Cane’s is coming to Normal, Illinois, and Jacksonville, Florida, on the same day, the Raising Cane’s representative told FOX Business. A restaurant opening in Poway, California, is also scheduled for July 22.

The chain’s website showed Raising Cane’s is slated to bring a restaurant to Indiana, Pennsylvania, in early August.

This year, Raising Cane’s has launched over 20 new locations across America as of the first quarter “with plans to open nearly 100 new restaurants across several new markets in 2025 by year’s end,” the Raising Cane’s spokesperson said.

The company currently has well over 800 chicken finger locations across the U.S., according to its website.

GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE

Last year, Raising Cane’s opened 118 restaurant locations. The chain called 2024 a “record-breaking year of growth” in a January press release.

“In 2026, Raising Cane’s will continue its growth in both new and existing Communities with nearly 100 new Restaurants planned to open nationwide, including in Los Angeles near SoFi Stadium, in San Francisco at Fisherman’s Wharf and in Seattle near the University of Washington, among many others,” the Raising Cane’s representative told FOX Business. “At any given time, we have about 300 Restaurants at various stages in our development pipeline and are continually evaluating sites all over the world to achieve our goal of operating 1,600+ restaurants and becoming a Top 10 US Restaurant Brand.” 

The company, founded by Todd Graves, had been around since 1996, when it opened its first-ever location in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Its name comes from Graves’ labrador retriever.

FAST-FOOD GIANT MAINTAINS IRON GRIP ON CUSTOMER SATISFACTION AMID RESTAURANT INDUSTRY CHANGES

Raising Cane’s competes with chicken fast-food chains like Chick-fil-A, KFC and Popeyes and other brands in the broader quick-service sector.

Orlando Bloom touches down alone for Bezos wedding festivities amid split reports

Orlando Bloom has touched down in Italy for Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez’s wedding, sans Katy Perry. 

The couple, who have been together for nine years and share one daughter together, have reportedly split, according to People. 

The split comes two months after Perry flew to space with Sanchez on Bezos’ Blue Origin spacecraft. While Perry did attend Sanchez’s bachelorette party last month, she is currently in Australia for her world tour.

JEFF BEZOS AND LAUREN SÁNCHEZ ARRIVE IN VENICE AS WEDDING FESTIVITIES BEGIN

On Thursday, the 48-year-old British actor was seen greeting Kim Kardashian, and later, photographed dining with pals. 

Representatives for Perry and Bloom did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

Other celebrities such as Kris Jenner, Khloé Kardashian, Tom Brady and Oprah Winfrey were also photographed arriving in Venice, Italy ahead of the Bezos-Sanchez wedding set to take place in the coming days.

Kim, who was wearing a two-piece black Balenciaga ensemble, was seen waving to onlookers as she boarded a water-taxi with mom Kris and sister, Khloe. 

Oprah Winfrey and former NFL star Tom Brady were also seen boarding their individual water taxis as well. 

LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS

On Wednesday, the soon-to-be newlyweds were seen out and about in Venice.

According to multiple reports, the couple decided to change one of their wedding venues in Venice because of security concerns and possible protests.

The couple had planned to hold a wedding party at the historic Scuola Grande della Misericordia in the Cannaregio section of the city, but are now said to be moving it to the harder-to-reach Arsenale, a former shipyard, which is completely surrounded by water and only reachable by boat when connecting bridges are raised, BBC News and Reuters reported.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER

A number of other celebrities are invited to the wedding festivities, which remain a secret but are expected to kick off on Thursday and end Saturday in the picturesque Italian city. 

WATCH: JEFF BEZOS AND LAUREN SANCHEZ ARRIVE IN VENICE, ITALY AHEAD OF THEIR WEDDING DAY

Despite ongoing protests from local Venetians, Mayor Luigi Brugnaro told The Associated Press that the city is “very proud” to be hosting the couple’s wedding. 

 CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER

“We are very proud,” Brugnaro said. “I don’t know if I will have time [to meet Bezos and Sánchez], or if he will, to meet and shake hands, but it’s an honor that they chose Venice. Venice once again reveals itself to be a global stage.”