Conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices appeared sympathetic on Wednesday to South Carolina's bid to strip Planned Parenthood of funding under the Medicaid program in a case that could bolster efforts by Republican-led states to deprive the reproductive healthcare and abortion provider of public money.

Several key conservatives on the Supreme Court left open the possibility on Wednesday that they could side with Planned Parenthood in a dispute with South Carolina over its decision to yank that organization’s Medicaid funding because it provides abortions.

The Supreme Court’s conservative majority appeared sympathetic Wednesday to South Carolina’s bid, backed by the Trump administration, to exclude Planned Parenthood from its Medicaid program and deny affected patients the ability to challenge that exclusion in court.