The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court found Monday that the state’s ban on the use of Medicaid funds for abortions is unconstitutional—in part, because there is a fundamental right to get an abortion under Pennsylvania law.

The Commonwealth Court, one of Pennsylvania’s intermediate appellate courts for state agency disputes, granted summary judgment to a group of abortion providers who challenged the constitutionality of a state statute prohibiting the use of Medicaid funds for abortions.

In a 4-3 ruling, the court found that Pennsylvania grants a fundamental right to reproductive autonomy because such a right allows women to make important healthcare decisions and protects “the ability to control their destiny.” Because the statute infringed on a fundamental right held only by women, the ban violated equal protection provisions of the state Constitution.

The court also granted summary judgment based on the state’s Equal Rights Amendment, which prohibits sex-based discrimination specifically. The court recounted recent state precedent which dictates that discrimination on the basis of pregnancy is a sex-based classification. As such, the block on Medicaid funds, targeting only people who are pregnant, violates the amendment.

The decision comes on remand from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The case previously went to the state high court in 2024, when the Commonwealth Court originally ruled against the abortion care providers. The Commonwealth Court at the time was bound by precedent dictating that classifications on the basis of pregnancy were not sex-based classifications. The state Supreme Court overturned that precedent and returned the case to the Commonwealth Court to decide the case under the new precedent.

Only a plurality of justices on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, however, found reproductive autonomy to be a fundamental right. Now on remand, the Commonwealth Court adopted the plurality’s reasoning and held, now as a binding decision in the case, that this bodily autonomy is fundamental.

The ruling starkly contrasts with developing federal rules related to abortion rights. In 2022, the US Supreme Court in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization rejected contentions that reproductive freedom was either a fundamental right or protected under the Equal Protection Clause of the US Constitution. The Commonwealth Court noted that the Pennsylvania Constitution is distinct from the federal constitution and extends protections under state law where federal law does not.

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro publicly praised the decision, saying that “a woman’s ability to access reproductive care should never be determined by her income.” The lawsuit began before Shapiro took office, after which his administration withdrew the government’s defense of the ban.

State Treasurer Stacy Garrity, who will challenge Shapiro in his reelection bid if she wins a Republican nomination, criticized the ruling, calling it “not only misguided” but “immoral.”

The state Attorney General David Sunday, who has defended the Medicaid ban, could still appeal the case to the state Supreme Court again. Sunday’s office has stated it is reviewing the case but has not indicated whether it will seek an appeal.