Ohio Bill Sends Planned Parenthood Tax Funds to Health Depts

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Jul 12, 2011   |   6:22PM   |   Columbus, OH

New legislation filed in Ohio today by state representatives and senators would shift taxpayer funding away from Planned Parenthood and abortion businesses towards county health departments that don’t do abortions.

The funding decision would allow women to access the same, or better, health care services they would receive at Planned Parenthood without forcing taxpayer to partially subsidize Planned Parenthood or other agencies that do abortions. Ohio Right to Life is behind the legislation to prioritize public funding for local health departments and community health centers instead of clinics that perform abortions.

State Representatives Kristina Roegner and Cliff Rosenberger and State Senator Kris Jordan sponsored companion legislation that will redirect millions of taxpayer dollars away from groups like Planned Parenthood and towards the hundreds of health centers that provide responsible health care for women, their children and unborn children, the organization said.

“This pro-life initiative is an extension of Ohio’s 2004 law which prioritized state women’s health services funds towards local departments of health.  This legislation will apply these same state standards towards various federal family planning dollars as well,” said Mike Gonidakis, the ORTL director. “Taxpayer funded health centers and community health centers should receive the utmost consideration from the government when distributing these limited resources.”

Gonidakis is already predicting that Planned Parenthood will attack the legislation as somehow hurting women’s health or access to health care, but he says Ohio has numerous alternatives across the state for women to access the same health care without subsidizing the abortion industry.

“The abortion industry and their lobbyists will recklessly claim that women will be denied health care with the enactment of this legislation,” he said. “The fact of the matter is that there are over 130 health districts and over 160 community health centers in Ohio that provide family planning services as well as comprehensive primary care.  Groups like Planned Parenthood are only attempting to protect taxpayer money they have received for decades.”

“The abortion industry repeatedly claims that without taxpayer funding for family planning, abortions will increase.  However, since 1998, government funding and contracts to Planned Parenthood has almost doubled from $165 million per year to $363.3 million.  During the same time period, abortions have increased at Planned Parenthood from 165,509 per year to 332,278,” Gonidakis continues. “Simply put, taxpayer funding of abortion providers and their affiliates has done nothing to help women and certainly not their unborn child.”

In other states, Indiana approved a law de-funding Planned Parenthood, Texas Gov. Rick Perry followed suit and New Hampshire Planned Parenthood centers may close after the state revoked a $1.8 million grant. Montana Planned Parenthood is also grappling with funding cuts and one county in Tennessee de-funded Planned Parenthood.

North Carolina may see the closing of a Planned Parenthood center following de-funding and Planned Parenthood in Wisconsin is making cuts after the abortion business lose $1 million in taxpayer funding there.

ACTION: Contact your members of the Ohio legislature at https://www.legislature.state.oh.us/ to support the legislation to shift Planned Parenthood funding.