The Sixth Circuit issued its opinion Thursday.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued its opinion Thursday in the case of State of Ohio v. Becerra. The State of Ohio and 10 pro-life states sued Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Xavier Becerra over a 2021 rule on Title X of the Public Health Service Act. Title X states that “none of the funds appropriated under [Title X] shall be used in programs where abortion is a method of family planning.”
The Biden-Becerra rule of 2021 both mandated that Title X projects provide referrals for abortion when requested by the patient and eliminated a 2019 HHS rule that required Title X grantees to maintain strict physical and financial separation between their Title X programs and abortions.
The Sixth Circuit rejected Ohio’s request for a preliminary injunction against the Biden administration’s abortion referral mandate.
The court also granted Ohio’s request for a preliminary injunction regarding the so-called program integrity rule, granting that the Biden-Becerra rule does not fulfill the requirements of Title X.
Litigation Counsel Carolyn McDonnell said, “The Sixth Circuit correctly determined HHS should not have removed the program integrity rule, which, consistent with Title X, ensures taxpayer dollars do not support abortion.”
Policy Counsel Danielle Pimentel said, “Title X was intended to act as another conscience protection for medical professionals who object to abortion, not as an avenue to mandate a national abortion policy.”
Both the State of Ohio and HHS have the option to ask the Supreme Court to review the case. If neither party makes such a request, the case will go back to the District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.
Read the full opinion here.
