The Title X family planning grants were cut off after the state stopped abortion referrals.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) told the Supreme Court on Aug. 15 it should not have to give millions of dollars in grants to Oklahoma that the agency withdrew over the state’s refusal to provide abortion referrals.
HHS argues Oklahoma should lose the funding because it made clear it would not include abortion in its information offerings about family planning services.
Funding flows to states under Title X of the Public Health Service Act of 1970. The money may be used for family planning services but may not be used for abortions.
A 2021 HHS regulation states that entities receiving funding must “offer pregnant clients the opportunity” to receive “neutral, factual information” regarding family planning options, including abortion.
In Oklahoma, the state allocates the money to city and county health departments, which use it to promote family planning, including services aimed at infertility and young people.
Abortion is banned in Oklahoma except to save the life of the mother. The state’s current abortion law took effect after the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturned Roe v. Wade, which returned