By S.A. McCarthy
The Washington Stand
The Biden-Harris administration is trying to penalize the Sooner State over its pro-life laws, and the U.S. Supreme Court is refusing to intervene. In an unsigned order issued Tuesday, the court declined a request from Oklahoma for an emergency injunction to prevent the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from stripping the state of $4.5 million in federal Title X family-planning funds.
Since it was enacted in 1970, the Title X Family Planning Program has distributed millions of dollars to individual states. Although federal law prohibits Title X funds from being spent on abortions, the Biden-Harris administration denied Oklahoma access to Title X funds unless the state agreed to refer pregnant women for abortions, which are currently illegal in Oklahoma in nearly all cases. Even after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, eliminating a federal “right” to abortion, HHS told Title X funding recipients that they would still be required to provide abortion referrals in order to qualify for funding. Oklahoma sued HHS last year, alleging that the Biden-Harris administration was punishing the state for its pro-life laws.
“This case presents a clear attempt by the federal government to encroach on the right of Oklahoma citizens and their elected representatives to decide the State’s policies on important issues,” the lawsuit argued. “The funding has been terminated solely because Oklahoma will not commit to providing referrals for abortion, even though Title X expressly prohibits federal money from being directed toward abortion,” it continued. The lawsuit further argued, “For nearly half a century, Oklahoma has used Title X funding to improve the lives of countless Oklahomans who cannot otherwise afford healthcare. Through its lawless behavior, the federal government is attempting to end that provision, irreparably harming Oklahoma and its citizens.”
Both the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit denied Oklahoma’s request for an injunction blocking the federal government from denying the Title X funds. Obama-appointed Circuit Court Judge Robert Bacharach wrote, “When the [Title X] program was created, Congress instructed the Department of Health and Human Services to establish eligibility requirements. HHS complied, and its requirements included nondirective counseling and referrals for all family-planning options, including abortion.” He concluded, “The district court acted within its discretion by concluding that Oklahoma hadn’t shown a likelihood of succeeding on its claims involving constraints under the spending power, violation of the Weldon Amendment, or arbitrariness and caprice in HHS’s application of its regulations and Title X. So we affirm the denial of a preliminary injunction.”
Biden-appointed Circuit Court Judge Richard Federico dissented, arguing, “Oklahoma has shown a likelihood of success in proving that HHS’s termination of the Title X grant to OSDH was unlawful discrimination against its providers who cannot and will not comply with the referral requirement. I would therefore reverse the district court with instructions to grant the preliminary injunction, and thus, I respectfully dissent.” Federico noted that, since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, the Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) could not comply with HHS’s abortion referral requirement “without running afoul of state law and policy.”
Although no reasoning was provided, the Supreme Court’s order Tuesday agreed with both the District Court and Circuit Court and denied Oklahoma’s request for an injunction. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch dissented and would have granted Oklahoma’s request.
Appearing on “Washington Watch” on Wednesday night, Steven Aden, chief legal officer for Americans United for Life, explained, “The Biden administration — as part of their nonstop attempt to reimpose a federal right to abortion that the Supreme Court said no longer existed in the Dobbs case when it overturned Roe v. Wade — it told the states, ‘If you want federal family planning money under Title X, you’re going to have to agree to refer women in Title X programs for abortions.” He continued, “A lot of states protect life from conception. Like Oklahoma, like Tennessee, which had $7 million yanked by the Biden administration. And they said, ‘No thanks. We’re not going to refer for abortion. It’s illegal in our state.’ Well, HHS didn’t like that.”
“If the federal government were doing its job under the Constitution, it would enforce and administer a whole host of pro-life laws that Congress has passed over the years, like the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits funding of tax dollars for elective abortions and other things,” Aden continued. “Instead, they’ve twisted things around and they’ve said, ‘Well, we’re going to force Department of Defense health care facilities to provide abortions. We’re going to provide for abortions in many other ways. We’re going to unleash the power of HHS and the attorney general to try to force pro-life states to provide for and fund elective abortions.’”
Specifically regarding the case involving Oklahoma, Aden explained, “This attempted forced referral for abortion is illegal for a couple of reasons under federal law. As it stands, the Weldon Amendment says that the federal government cannot force states or state health care providers to refer for abortion. It’s a conscience provision.” He added, “But like a lot of provisions, the Biden administration has ignored that one and gone on anyway. But we hope the Supreme Court will clear this up sooner or later.”
Originally published at The Washington Stand!
