Oklahoma again asks US Supreme Court to intervene after losing funds due to pro-life policies

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a decision from an appeals court that denies the state federal Title X family planning funding, because the state refuses to comply with a federal abortion referral requirement.

In May 2023, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under the Biden-Harris administration suspended Oklahoma’s $4.5 million Title X family planning grant. because the state refused to offer its funding recipients information about abortion. The state of Oklahoma currently protects nearly all preborn children from abortion; at the time the funding was suspended, Governor Kevin Stitt said the HHS’s “decision to terminate our healthcare funding due to our pro-life laws is simply an abuse of power.”

Title X funds are used for things like “pregnancy testing and nondirective pregnancy options counseling, including patient-directed referral; contraceptive counseling and services; testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections (STIs); pelvic exams; screening for cervical cancer, breast cancer, high blood pressure, anemia, diabetes, and HIV/AIDS; basic infertility services; health education; and referrals for health and social services,” according to a 2023 fact sheet from National Family Planning.

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Drummond sued the HHS last year and asked for a temporary injunction so that Oklahoma could receive its money. In January, a judge denied that injunction and in July, a federal appeals court upheld the January decision.

Last month, the Supreme Court refused a request from Oklahoma to restore the funding through an emergency order, though the court did indicate that Justices Neil Gorsuch, Samuel Alito, and Clarence Thomas would have granted Drummond’s request. Now, Drummond is asking the court to specifically review the July federal appeals court decision on the basis that it didn’t comply with Supreme Court precedents and the court’s decision was at odds with multiple circuit courts.

In a press release, Drummond explained “the federal government’s expansive claim that it can force unwilling states to provide abortion referrals under Title X is ‘remarkably wrong’ and ‘unacceptably shifts legislative power to the executive branch.'”

According to The Oklahoman, the state’s legislature has worked to make up for the lack in Title X money, appropriating $4.5 million in family planning funds, though state officials say the federal funding is sorely needed.

“Oklahomans have depended upon these services for decades,” Drummond said in his press release. “Just because Oklahoma’s state policies clash with the liberal Biden-Harris agenda does not mean our people should be denied healthcare, particularly when federal law makes it clear that Title X cannot be used for abortion.”

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