Ohio Pro-Life Group Upset County Giving 50K to Planned Parenthood Abortion Biz
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
October 12, 2009
Columbus, OH (LifeNews.com) — Today, the Franklin County Board of Commissioners is expected to pass a resolution authorizing a $50,000 contract with Planned Parenthood of Central Ohio. The grant, which would fund sexual education programs in 19 Franklin County middle and high schools, is drawing opposition from Ohio Right to Life.
The executive summary of the contract notes that the programs will promote "increase[d] access to reproductive health care for teenagers," which means getting more customers for Planed Parenthood.
Mike Gonidakis, the director of Ohio Right to Life, told LifeNews.com on Monday that Planned Parenthood is the largest abortion business in the United States, doing 305,310 abortions in 2007 alone, and shouldn’t be promoted by any Ohio county or school.
He also noted that Planned Parenthood is not in need of funding, as it received $346.9 million dollars of taxpayer money nationally in 2008, more than $100 million in excess of what they received from private donations.
"Our county government should not be funding Planned Parenthood to interact with our children," Gonidakis said. "Parents do not want their children to be forced to interact with an organization which performs and promotes abortion and which has allegedly failed to report child sexual abuse."
The statewide pro-life leader said the money would be better spent helping women during pregnancy.
Gonidakis said the recent closure of a second Columbus Public Health women’s clinic, which provided prenatal care to 410 women in 2008, has already hampered efforts to help local women access prenatal care and necessary health services.
Legislation was passed in late 2006 codifying that the state of Ohio prefers childbirth over abortion, he said, so the Planned Parenthood grant only further confuses the role of government in women’s health.
Stephanie Krider, the special projects coordinator for Ohio Right to Life, also weighed in on the situation.
"What the county is saying is that they would rather fund a 5-10 day sex education program run by an abortion provider than the long-term health of a low-income pregnant woman to ensure that she has a healthy baby and a healthy delivery," she told LifeNews.com.
"We understand the need for prevention education, but the only prevention that is 100% effective is abstinence," she said.
ACTION: Contact members of the Franklin County Board of Commissioners at https://www.co.franklin.oh.us/Commissioners
Related web sites:
Ohio Right to Life – https://www.ohiolife.org
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