Oklahoma asks Supreme Court to block HHS from stripping federal planning grants over abortion ban

Oklahoma is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to block the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from stripping the state of federal family-planning grants because officials refuse to refer pregnant women to abortion counseling services. 

The state on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to intervene after the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 in July that HHS was allowed to withhold funding because the state did not meet the conditions for participation in the grant program.