Beal v. Doe, No. 75-554

• Court: United States Supreme Court
• Writing for the Court: POWELL
• Citation: 432 U.S. 438,53 L.Ed.2d 464,97 S.Ct. 2366
• Parties: Frank S. BEAL, etc., et al., Petitioners, v. Ann DOE et al
• Docket Number: No. 75-554
• Decision Date: 20 June 1977

432 U.S. 438 97 S.Ct. 2366 53 L.Ed.2d 464 Frank S. BEAL, etc., et al., Petitioners,

v.

Ann DOE et al.

No. 75-554. Argued Jan. 11, 1977. Decided June 20, 1977. Syllabus

Title XIX of the Social Security Act establishes a Medical Assistance (Medicaid) program, under which participating States financially assist qualified individuals in five general categories of medical treatment, state plans being required to establish "reasonable standards . . . for determining . . . the extent of medical assistance under the plan which are consistent with" Title XIX's objectives. Respondents, who are eligible for medical assistance under Pennsylvania's Medicaid plan and who were denied financial assistance for desired nontherapeutic abortions pursuant to state regulations limiting such assistance to abortions certified by physicians as medically necessary, brought this action seeking injunctive and declaratory relief, contending that the certification requirement contravened Title XIX and denied them equal protection of the laws. A three-judge District Court decided the statutory issue against respondents but the constitutional issue partially in their favor. The Court of Appeals, not reaching the constitutional question, reversed on the statutory issue, holding that Title XIX prohibits participating States from requiring a medical-necessity certificate as a funding condition during the first two trimesters of pregnancy. Held:

1. Title XIX of the Social Security Act does not require the funding of nontherapeutic abortions as a condition of participation in the Medicaid program established by that Act. Pp. 443-447.

(a) Nothing in the language of Title XIX requires a participating State to fund every medical procedure falling within the delineated categories of medical care. Each State is given broad discretion to determine the extent of medical assistance that is "reasonable" and "consistent with the objectives" of Title XIX. Pp. 443-444.

(b) Although serious statutory questions might be presented if state Medicaid plans did not cover necessary medical treatment, it is not inconsistent with the Act's goals to refuse to fund unnecessary (though perhaps desirable) medical services. Pp. 444-445.

(c) The State has a strong interest in encouraging normal child-

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birth that exists throughout the course of a woman's pregnancy, and nothing in Title XIX suggests that it is unreasonable for a State to further that interest. It therefore will not be presumed that Congress intended to condition a State's participation in Medicaid on its willingness to undercut that interest by subsidizing the costs of nontherapeutic abortions. Pp. 445-446.

(d) When Congress passed Title XIX nontherapeutic abortions were unlawful in most States, a fact that undermines the contention that Congress intended to require rather than permit participating States to fund such abortions. Moreover, the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, the agency that administers Title XIX, takes the position that the Title allows, but does not mandate, funding for such abortions. P. 447.

2. Whether or not that aspect of Pennsylvania's program under which financial assistance is not provided for medically necessary abortions unless two physicians in addition to the attending physician have examined the patient and have concurred in writing as to the medical necessity of the abortion interferes with the attending physician's medical judgment in a manner not contemplated by Congress should be considered on remand. P. 448.

3 Cir., 523 F.2d 611, vacated and remanded.

Norman J. Watkins, Harrisburg, Pa., for petitioners.

Judd F. Crosby, Pittsburgh, Pa., for respondents.

Page 440

Mr. Justice POWELL, delivered the opinion of the Court.

The issue in this case is whether Title XIX of the Social Security Act, as added, 79 Stat. 343, and amended, 42 U.S.C. § 1396 et seq. (1970 ed. and Supp. V), requires States that participate in the Medical Assistance (Medicaid) program to fund the cost of nontherapeutic abortions.

I

Title XIX establishes the Medicaid program under which participating States may provide federally funded medical assistance to needy persons.¹ The statute requires participating States to provide qualified individuals with financial assistance in five general categories of medical treatment.² 42

Page 441

U.S.C. §§ 1396a(a)(13)(B) (1970 ed., Supp. V), 1396d(a)(1)-(5) (1970 ed. and Supp. V). Although Title XIX does not require States to provide funding for all medical treatment falling within the five general categories, it does require that state Medicaid plans establish "reasonable standards . . . for determining . . . the extent of medical assistance under the plan which . . . are consistent with the objectives of (Title XIX)." 42 U.S.C. § 1396a(a)(17) (1970 ed., Supp. V).

Respondents, who are eligible for medical assistance under Pennsylvania's federally approved Medicaid plan, were denied financial assistance for desired abortions pursuant to Pennsylvania regulations limiting such assistance to those abortions that are certified by physicians as medically necessary.³ When

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respondents' applications for Medicaid assistance were denied because of their failure to furnish the required certificates, they filed this action in the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania seeking declaratory and injunctive relief. Their complaint alleged that Pennsylvania's requirement of a certificate of medical necessity contravened relevant provisions of Title XIX and denied them equal protection of the laws in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment.

(1) A three-judge District Court was convened pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2281. After resolving the statutory issue against respondents, the District Court held that Pennsylvania's medical-necessity restriction denied respondents equal protection of the laws. Doe v. Wohlgemuth, 376 F.Supp. 173 (1974).⁴

Page 443

Accordingly, the court granted a declaratory judgment that the Pennsylvania requirement was unconstitutional as applied during the first trimester. The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, sitting en banc, reversed on the statutory issue, holding that Title XIX prohibits participating States from requiring a physician's certificate of medical necessity as a condition for funding during both the first and second trimesters of pregnancy.⁵ 523 F.2d 611 (1975). The Court of Appeals therefore did not reach the constitutional issue.⁶

We granted certiorari to resolve a conflict among the federal courts as to the requirements of Title XIX.⁷ 428 U.S. 909, 96 S.Ct. 3220, 49 L.Ed.2d 1216 (1976).

II

(2) The only question before us is one of statutory construction: whether Title XIX requires Pennsylvania to fund under

Page 444

its Medicaid program the cost of all abortions that are permissible under state law. "The starting point in every case involving construction of a statute is the language itself." Blue Chip Stamps v. Manor Drug Stores, 421 U.S. 723, 756, 95 S.Ct. 1917, 1935, 44 L.Ed.2d 539 (1975) (Powell, J., concurring). Title XIX makes no reference to abortions, or, for that matter, to any other particular medical procedure. Instead, the statute is cast in terms that require participating States to provide financial assistance with respect to five broad categories of medical treatment. See n. 2, supra. But nothing in the statute suggests that participating States are required to fund every medical procedure that falls within the delineated categories of medical care. Indeed, the statute expressly provides:

"A State plan for medical assistance must . . . include reasonable standards . . . for determining eligibility for and the extent of medical assistance under the plan which . . . are consistent with the objectives of this (Title) . . . ." 42 U.S.C. § 1396a(a)(17) (1970 ed., Supp. V).

This language confers broad discretion on the States to adopt standards for determining the extent of medical assistance, requiring only that such standards be "reasonable" and "consistent with the objectives" of the Act. ⁸

Pennsylvania's regulation comports fully with Title XIX's broadly stated primary objective to enable each State, as far as practicable, to furnish medical assistance to individuals whose income and resources are insufficient to meet the costs of necessary medical services. See 42 U.S.C. §§ 1396, 1396a(10)(C) (1970 ed., Supp. V). Although serious statutory questions might be presented if a state Medicaid plan excluded necessary medical treatment from its coverage, it is hardly inconsistent with the objectives of the Act for a State

Page 445

to refuse to fund unnecessary though perhaps desirable medical services.

(3) The thrust of respondents' argument is that the exclusion of nontherapeutic abortions from Medicaid coverage is unreasonable on both economic and health grounds.⁹ The economic argument is grounded on the view that abortion is generally a less expensive medical procedure than childbirth. Since a pregnant woman normally will either have an abortion or carry her child full term, a State that elects not to fund nontherapeutic abortions will eventually be confronted with the greater expenses associated with childbirth. The corresponding health argument is based on the view that an early abortion poses less of a risk to the woman's health than childbirth. Consequently, respondents argue, the economic and health considerations that ordinarily support the reasonableness of state limitations on financing of unnecessary medical services are not applicable to pregnancy.

Accepting respondents' assumptions as accurate, we do not agree that the exclusion of nontherapeutic abortions from Medicaid coverage is unreasonable under Title XIX. As we acknowledged in Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, 93 S.Ct. 705, 35 L.Ed.2d 147 (1973), the State has a valid and important interest in encouraging childbirth. We expressly...