A federal appeals court has refused to block a Biden administration rule that allows Title X family planning funds to go to entities that promote or provide abortions.

A panel of judges on the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals declined an injunction request by 12 states seeking to restore a Trump-era ban on abortion referrals from federally funded clinics. 

According to AP News, the panel concluded that “the states have not demonstrated that they will be irreparably harmed without the injunction.” 

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has led the charge in opposing the Biden rule, writing a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra in May urging him not to allow Title X money to be funneled to entities that provide elective abortions.

The letter pointed out that Section 1008 of Title X states that “none of the funds … shall be used in programs where abortion is a method of family planning.”

Despite Yost’s warning, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a final rule in October, allowing federal funding to go to family planning clinics, such as Planned Parenthood, that refer their patients to abortion counseling and in some cases provide abortion services.

In response, Yost, along with 11 other state attorneys, filed suit against the Biden administration.

States that joined the challenge were Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina and West Virginia.

A recent Knights of Columbus/Marist Poll revealed that the majority of Americans—54%—oppose taxpayer funding of abortions.

“Planned Parenthood is a $1.6 billion abortion business that kills over 350,000 babies a year. It doesn’t need one cent of our tax money,” tweeted LifeNews.com following the ruling.

Although the states will not be able to stop the implementation of the new rule before the next round of federal grants begin rolling out in March, they do have the option of appealing their case to the U.S. Supreme Court.