Supreme Court Rejects Oklahoma’s Bid for Federal Grants in Dispute Over Abortion Counseling

The Supreme Court on Tuesday turned down a request from Oklahoma to restore millions in federal family-planning grants that the Biden administration withheld after the state announced that it would no longer provide access to abortion counseling services.

Oklahoma had sought emergency relief after a divided three-judge panel of an appeals court in July temporarily paused the funding as a lower-court dispute played out over whether state officials could refuse to refer pregnant women to counseling services that presented abortion as an option.

The court’s brief, unsigned order gave no reasons, as is common when it acts on emergency applications. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel A. Alito Jr. and Neil M. Gorsuch dissented, saying they would have reinstated the grants.

The case was the latest instance in which the justices have addressed a dispute over restrictions on abortion after they overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. Since then, 22 states, including Oklahoma, have either banned or limited access to the procedure.

The dispute centers on when states should receive federal grants focused on family planning. In establishing the program in 1970, Congress directed the Department of Health and Human Services to lay out eligibility requirements. Among them: Applicants must offer counseling and referrals for all manner of issues, including abortion.

Oklahoma’s health department was among the grant recipients for 2022.

But after the Supreme Court eliminated the constitutional right to abortion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the Health and Human Services Department told grant recipients that they must continue to offer counseling and referrals for all options, including abortion.