WASHINGTON – On Tuesday, the Supreme Court turned down Oklahoma’s appeal for federal funding for reproductive health services unless it provided abortion referrals to interested individuals.

Oklahoma is among eleven states contesting a federal rule that ensures pregnant women get information on all available options, including abortion, if they wish to receive federal family planning and preventive care funds.

The state argued to the Supreme Court that they should be permitted to access these funds while litigation against the federal Department of Health and Human Services is ongoing.

“Failing to provide Title X services to these communities would be catastrophic,” the state’s legal representatives stated. “In many cases, especially in rural areas of Oklahoma, the local health department serves as one of the few critical access points for preventive care over extensive distances.”

However, the court declined the urgent request.

Three of the six conservative justices – Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch – indicated they would have approved the appeal.

The Biden administration implemented this requirement in 2021, reversing a ban from the Trump administration that prohibited referrals for abortions within state grant programs.

Oklahoma contended that the Biden administration’s stipulation infringes upon the state’s prohibition against aiding individuals in obtaining an abortion. The state also claimed that this federal requirement violates a federal law designed to protect health care providers from discrimination if they do not provide abortion referrals.

The Department of Health and Human Services clarified that organizations receiving Title X funds are not required to directly inform patients about how to obtain abortions but must provide contact information for a national hotline that can offer information about abortions and other services.

The department terminated Oklahoma’s $4.5 million funding after the state declared it would not comply with the requirements. Tennessee also lost Title X funding due to similar reasons.

So far, lower courts have consistently supported the administration’s position.

A federal judge in Oklahoma noted that the Department of Health and Human Services has the authority to impose conditions on grants and expressed doubts that providing the hotline number could constitute a violation of Oklahoma law.

This ruling was upheld by a split panel of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals based in Denver.

This dispute is part of a series of legal confrontations between the Biden administration and states with stringent abortion regulations.

Other issues include a federal mandate for hospitals to perform emergency abortions and whether Alabama can legally prosecute individuals who assist their residents in getting abortions out of state. Additionally, Republican attorneys general from Idaho, Kansas, and Missouri are disputing the widely used abortion medication, mifepristone.