The Supreme Court agreed to hear a case on Monday that arose out of a Trump administration rule prohibiting federally funded entities to refer women for an abortion during family planning sessions.
In an unsigned order, the court accepted the case, which was an appeal from the American Medical Association after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the former administration’s so-called gag rule. The court seeks to resolve a split between the 9th Circuit and the 4th Circuit, which came to the opposite conclusion.
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The Trump-era Department of Health and Human Services instituted the rule to curb Title X funding to organizations that direct patients to abortions. The rule, part of an effort to defund Planned Parenthood, led to organizations pulling out of the program.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, whom President Biden recently tapped to lead his HHS, led the fight along with the AMA to throw the gag rule out. When the 9th Circuit ruled in its favor, Becerra called the decision “troubling.”
“The Gag Rule interferes with healthcare decisions that should remain between women and their healthcare providers,” he said in a statement.
Anti-abortion groups at the time celebrated the ruling as a win for former President Donald Trump’s anti-abortion agenda.
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After the court decided to take up the case, the AMA and Planned Parenthood, along with several other reproductive rights groups, praised the decision in a joint statement.
“We remain committed to securing a swift outcome, whether from the Court or the Biden administration, that will protect Title X patients, physicians, providers, and the health of the nation from further irreparable harm imposed by the current rule,” the groups wrote.
