Supreme Court of the United States

Beal v. Doe

June 20, 1977432 U.S. 438

Summary

The Court held that Title XIX does not require participating States to fund nontherapeutic abortions, because the statute gives States broad discretion to establish reasonable standards defining the extent of Medicaid assistance. The Court also held that the record was insufficient to determine whether Pennsylvania's requirement of concurrence by two additional physicians for medically necessary abortions conflicted with Title XIX, so it remanded for consideration of that requirement. Justice Brennan, joined by Justices Marshall and Blackmun, and Justice Marshall separately, dissented and would have required funding for elective abortions; Justice Blackmun separately criticized the denial of practical access to abortion for indigent women.

Holding

  • Whether Title XIX requires Medicaid funding of nontherapeutic abortions.. Title XIX does not require a participating State to fund nontherapeutic abortions. Pennsylvania may exclude such abortions from Medicaid coverage, although the statute leaves a State free to provide that coverage if it chooses.
  • Whether Pennsylvania's additional-physician concurrence requirement is consistent with Title XIX.. The Court could not determine on the record whether the requirement that two additional physicians concur in writing interferes with the attending physician's medical judgment in a manner not contemplated by Congress. The judgment was therefore reversed and the case remanded for consideration of that requirement.

Docket 75-554

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