Oklahoma Asks SCOTUS to Prevent Federal Gov. From Withholding Funds Over Abortion Ban
by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – Oklahoma has appealed to the US Supreme Court to prevent the federal government from withholding Title X federal funding to its family planning services over the state’s refusal to refer women for abortions following its ban on the procedure, the Washington Times reports.
The state petitioned the Supreme Court on Wednesday August 7, after the 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against it on the issue, the Times said.
Oklahoma banned abortion except to save the life of the mother after the Supreme Court ruled in the case 2022 case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that there is no constitutional right to abortion and that the issue should be decided by individual states.
In its brief to the Supreme Court on Wednesday, Oklahoma referred to 2021 rule issued by Biden’s administration’s Health and Human Services Department which requires states to give “grantees to offer abortion counseling and referrals,” if they want federal Title X funding for their own health departments. Title X of the Public Health Service Act is the only federal grant program that provides individuals with comprehensive family planning and related preventive health services.
“HHS has stripped Oklahoma’s Health Department of $4.5 million solely because OSDH will not provide abortion referrals. And it will soon do so again,” the brief reads. “These Title X funds are vital to Oklahoma’s provision of family planning services.”
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