Cincinnati, OH (LifeNews.com) -- The county commissioners in Hamilton County, Ohio, home to Cincinnati, are considering a measure that would approve a $26,225 contract between the county and Planned Parenthood of Southwestern Ohio. Commissioners would have approved the funding Wednesday but one member raised objections.

Commissioner Pat DeWine objected to the vote and called for a delay. Now, county officials will consider the grant proposal when they meet next Wednesday morning.

Paula Westwood, the director of Right to Life of Greater Cincinnati, notified LifeNews.com of the vote and said, "The county claims to be in the middle of a budget crisis, and yet over $26,000 can be allocated to abortion business Planned Parenthood."

Westwood explained that the County Commission was presented with a resolution calling for a vote to approve a contract with Planned Parenthood that already had been "entered into" by the County's Family and Children First Council, chaired by Hamilton County Commission Chairman Todd Portune.

"It appears that this County agency entered into a non-binding contract for 'family planning direct health care services' with Planned Parenthood in April of this year," she explained.

Westwood says that, even though the money doesn't pay for abortion directly, it is fungible.

"Note that money granted to Planned Parenthood for one project frees funds for their abortion business. Planned Parenthood is the leading abortion chain in this country, responsible for 25% of all abortions performed," she said.

Right to Life is asking local pro-life advocates to contact commissioners Todd Portune and David Pepper and ask them to vote no on the Planned Parenthood funding, which it calls a "misuse of tax dollars."

The funding of Planned Parenthood of Southwestern Ohio also comes at a time when the abortion business stands accused of violating the state's parental notification law.

The Ohio Supreme Court held a hearing recently on a case involving a secret abortion on a 14-year-old girl who was a victim of rape. A Cincinnati couple is upset their daughter had an abortion at the Planned Parenthood center without their knowledge or consent as required by state law.

The girl's parents filed a lawsuit against Planned Parenthood of Southwest Ohio for violating the state's parental notification law by not telling them of her abortion, which may have been coerced.

The girl in the case provided an incorrect phone number to Planned Parenthood officials for notification. Instead of giving the abortion center her parents' phone, she gave the number for her 22-year-old boyfriend -- her soccer coach John Haller.

Haller started having sexual relations with the teenager when she was 13 and he was eventually convicted in 2004 of sexual battery and spent three years in prison. He signed off on the abortion instead of the teen's father.

ACTION: Contact Todd Portune at (513) 946-4401 todd.portune@hamilton-co.org and David Pepper at (513) 946-4409 or david.pepper@hamilton-co.org

Related web sites:
Right to Life of Greater Cincinnati - http://www.cincinnatirighttolife.org

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