Court Restricts Prenatal Care for Undocumented Immigrants
Posted Aug 17, 2001

In a significant ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit determined that it is not unconstitutional to deny prenatal care to undocumented immigrants. At the same time, it ruled that U.S. citizen children of undocumented mothers are entitled to automatic eligibility for Medicaid benefits for a year after birth.

The case, which was on appeal filed by the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, is Lewis v. Thompson. The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) was seeking review of a January 19, 2000 district court ruling that kept in place a long-standing injunction prohibiting the denial of prenatal care to undocumented aliens.

Clearly, DHHS' position appears to make no sense from an economic point of view. Surely it is less expensive to provide preventive care than to later pay the high costs of treating the problems that could have been prevented. Since, under the U.S. constitution, all children born in the U.S. are U.S. citizens, and neonatal intensive care is extremely expensive, it is disturbing that DHHS is taking this position that raises both moral concerns and potential costs to U.S. taxpayers the long run.