The Supreme Court denied a request from Oklahoma on Tuesday to reinstate a $4.5 million federal grant for family planning services after the White House rescinded the funding over the state’s refusal to provide pregnant patients with information about abortion options.

The 6-3 decision split the conservative majority of the Supreme Court, according to the court’s order, which said that Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas would have sided with Oklahoma.

Legal battles over states’ abortion restrictions and federal funding have popped up across the country in light of the Supreme Court’s overturn of Roe v. Wade, which gave the green light for several Republican-led states to outlaw abortion access in all or most cases. All six conservative justices voted to overturn federal protections to abortion in June 2022.

According to regulation under the Department of Health and Human Services, family planning clinics are not able to use federal funding to pay for abortions, although providers must offer information about the procedure at the patient’s request. Oklahoma argued in a lawsuit that its family planning clinics could not comply with the regulation because its laws make it a crime for a person to advise or perform an abortion.

The state has one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the country and prohibits the procedure in nearly all circumstances, except in the case where the life of the mother is at risk.

This is a developing story. It will be updated as information becomes available

The Guardian or Authority of Law, created by sculptor James Earle Fraser, rests on the side of the U.S. Supreme Court on September 28, 2020, in Washington, D.C.
The Guardian or Authority of Law, created by sculptor James Earle Fraser, rests on the side of the U.S. Supreme Court on September 28, 2020, in Washington, D.C.
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