The huge stakes in the Supreme Court’s new abortion case

Oklahoma v. Department of Health and Human Services is the sort of case that keeps health policy wonks up late at night.

On the surface, it involves a relatively low-stakes fight over abortion. The Biden administration requires recipients of federal Title X grants — a federal program that funds family-planning services — to present patients with “neutral, factual information” about all of their family-planning options, including abortion. Grant recipients can comply with this requirement by giving patients a national call-in number that can inform those patients about abortion providers.

Oklahoma had long received Title X grants to fund health programs in the state. After receiving a $4.5 million grant in 2023, however, the state decided it would no longer comply with the requirement to give patients the call-in number. Accordingly, the administration terminated Oklahoma’s grant.