The recent decision by the Biden administration to rescind $4.5 million in funding from the Oklahoma State Department of Health’s family planning services has sparked outrage and accusations of political retribution. The funding cut will affect approximately 30,000 low-income people who rely on family health services such as counseling, testing and treatment for STDs, physical examinations, and prenatal care and education.
The Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) claims that the funding was revoked because their pro-life family services were deemed “out of compliance” by the federal government. The OSDH officials have criticized the decision as a violation of Title X of the Public Health Services Act. Title X states that “none of the funds appropriated under this title shall be used in programs where abortion is a method of family planning.”
Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma argues that the decision to cut funding was politically motivated and that the HHS has willfully misinterpreted Title X. Lankford wrote to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, demanding that the funds be reinstated, adding that abortions are not family planning but rather family destruction.
This isn’t the first time that HHS has intervened in pro-life states and laws. After a 2022 Supreme Court decision returned abortion regulation to the states last year, conservative states like Texas enacted pro-life policies, leading HHS to punish them for protecting unborn children. In August 2022, HHS refused to increase Medicaid payments to mothers of newborns in Texas.
