Current:Home > MarketsSupreme Court won’t allow Oklahoma to reclaim federal money in dispute over abortion referrals -TrueNorth Finance Path
Supreme Court won’t allow Oklahoma to reclaim federal money in dispute over abortion referrals
View
Date:2025-04-15 08:01:34
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected Oklahoma’s emergency appeal seeking to restore a $4.5 million grant for family planning services in an ongoing dispute over the state’s refusal to refer pregnant women to a nationwide hotline that provides information about abortion and other options.
The brief 6-3 order did not detail the court’s reasoning, as is typical, but says Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch would have sided with Oklahoma.
Lower courts had ruled that the federal Health and Human Services Department’s decision to cut off Oklahoma from the funds did not violate federal law.
The case stems from a dispute over state abortion restrictions and federal grants provided under a family planning program known as Title X that has only grown more heated since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 and many Republican-led states outlawed abortion.
Clinics cannot use federal family planning money to pay for abortions, but they must offer information about abortion at the patient’s request, under the federal regulation at issue.
Oklahoma argues that it can’t comply with a requirement to provide abortion counseling and referrals because the state’s abortion ban makes it a crime for “any person to advise or procure an abortion for any woman.”
The administration said it offered an accommodation that would allow referrals to the national hotline, but the state rejected that as insufficient. The federal government then cut off the state’s Title X funds.
In 2021, the Biden administration reversed a ban on abortion referrals by clinics that accept Title X funds. The restriction was initially enacted during the Donald Trump administration in 2019, but the policy has swung back and forth for years, depending upon who is in the White House.
Tennessee is pursuing a similar lawsuit that remains in the lower courts. Oklahoma and 10 other states also are mounting a separate challenge to the federal regulation.
Oklahoma says it distributes the money to around 70 city and county health departments for family planning, infertility help and services for adolescents. For rural communities especially, the government-run health facilities can be “the only access points for critical preventative services for tens or even hundreds of miles,” Oklahoma said in its Supreme Court filing.
___
Associated Press writer Lindsay Whitehurst contributed to this story.
veryGood! (26971)
Related
- Justice Department, Louisville reach deal after probe prompted by Breonna Taylor killing
- Egypt’s leader el-Sissi slams Ethiopia-Somaliland coastline deal and vows support for Somalia
- Republican Presidential Candidate Nikki Haley Says Climate Change is Real. Is She Proposing Anything to Stop It?
- Elderly couple, disabled son die in house fire in Galveston, Texas
- The White House is cracking down on overdraft fees
- Jon Scheyer apologizes to Duke basketball fans after ‘unacceptable’ loss to Pitt
- Djokovic reaches the Australian Open quarterfinals, matching Federer's Grand Slam record
- Prosecutors say Kansas couple lived with dead relative for 6 years, collected over $216K in retirement benefits
- McConnell absent from Senate on Thursday as he recovers from fall in Capitol
- ‘Burn, beetle, burn': Hundreds of people torch an effigy of destructive bug in South Dakota town
Ranking
- Could Bill Belichick, Robert Kraft reunite? Maybe in Pro Football Hall of Fame's 2026 class
- The art of Trump's trials: Courtroom artist turns legal battles into works of art
- Taylor Swift simply being at NFL playoff games has made the sport better. Deal with it.
- Haley to launch ad targeting Trump's handling of North Korea relationship and hostage Otto Warmbier
- Macy's says employee who allegedly hid $150 million in expenses had no major 'impact'
- Retrial set to begin for man who fatally shot ex-Saints star after traffic collision
- UN migration agency seeks $7.9 billion to help people on the move and the communities that host them
- Democrats believe abortion will motivate voters in 2024. Will it be enough?
Recommendation
A White House order claims to end 'censorship.' What does that mean?
NFL schedule today: Everything to know about playoff games on Jan. 21
Democrats believe abortion will motivate voters in 2024. Will it be enough?
Chiefs-Bills marks Patrick Mahomes' first road playoff game. He's 'excited' for challenge.
Small twin
Much of US still gripped by Arctic weather as Memphis deals with numerous broken water pipes
Across Germany, anti-far right protests draw hundreds of thousands - in Munich, too many for safety
'Pawn Stars' TV star Rick Harrison's son Adam dies at 39 of a suspected drug overdose