NBC News
The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the Biden administration to refuse to disburse federal family planning funds to Oklahoma in an abortion-related lawsuit.
The administration has sought to withhold funding because Oklahoma refused to provide patients with a hotline number that could provide neutral information about abortion.
The court’s brief order rejecting an emergency request filed by the state noted that three of the six conservative justices — Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch — disagreed with the outcome. The court did not explain the reasons for its decision.
Under the federal family planning law in question, known as Title X, state funding cannot be used for abortion. But the Biden administration argues that does not prohibit the government from requiring providers to ensure patients have access to relevant information.
When President Joe Biden took office in 2021, his administration enacted a regulation similar to those enacted by previous administrations requiring states to provide objective information to pregnant patients on issues such as prenatal care, adoption and abortion.
In addition to requiring providers to provide “non-directive counseling” to pregnant women, it also requires that a referral be provided upon request.
The new regulation replaced a Trump Administration rule which prohibited any referral for abortions.
In 2022, Oklahoma received funding after meeting the standard, but following the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that struck down abortion rights (Roe vs. Wade), the state changed course.
Oklahoma now bans abortion except when a woman’s life is in danger and has a law that makes it a crime to encourage someone to have one.
The state initially agreed to provide a direct telephone number for patients seeking information about abortions, but later declined to do so.
State funding for 2023, worth $4.5 million, was then cancelled.
Oklahoma had already joined the challenge to the administration’s rule, but filed a separate suit seeking access to Title X funding.
A federal judge in Oklahoma ruled against the state, by refusing to demand that the Biden Administration provide the moneyThe Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reached the same conclusion, holding that informing patients about the hotline did not constitute a referral for an abortion.
The state then turned to the Supreme Court in an attempt to access funding in the future.
State attorneys argued in part that the Department of Health and Human Services does not have the authority to impose new conditions on funding required under Title X.
They added in court documents that the funding is used to provide “critical public health services” throughout the state.
“Depriving these communities of Title X services It would be devastating“, they added.
On behalf of the Biden administration, Attorney General Elizabeth Prelogar wrote in a court filing that Title X regulations are currently in effect in all 50 states.
“Congress routinely conditions federal grants on compliance with requirements contained in agency regulations, and this court has repeatedly upheld those requirements,” he added.
