It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Planned Parenthood doesn’t like it when the government takes money away from them.
So, when Ohio state legislators approved legislation to de-fund the abortion business this week, Planned Parenthood responded with a massive advertising attack to try to intimidate pro-life Gov. John Kasich.
Kasich, who is running for the Republican presidential nomination, is expected to sign the bill. Ohio is one of several states that has taken steps to de-fund Planned Parenthood after it was caught in multiple states selling aborted babies and their body parts.
Since undercover videos by the Center for Medical Progress exposed the abortion giant’s practices, Planned Parenthood has been spending massive amounts of money trying to protect its image and keep its government funding. According to Politico, this week, Planned Parenthood bought five figures worth of ad space in Ohio to slam Kasich for his pro-life record. The ads will run on Facebook and major Ohio news websites, the report states.
“John Kasich said he supports women and families,” one video ad says. “So why does Kasich want to defund Planned Parenthood, cut programs that prevent infant mortality and end important domestic violence prevention initiatives?”
On Wednesday, the Planned Parenthood Action Fund also issued a statement blasting the pro-life governor: “Kasich is no Moderate; Has Been Making Life Hell for Women in Ohio.”
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Later on Facebook and Twitter, Kasich responded, “Planned Parenthood can’t and won’t intimidate me. I’m proudly pro-life. – John.”
His office also issued a statement: “Gov. Kasich has worked with legislative leaders to ensure that public dollars are used to their best purpose. The Ohio Department of Health had already stopped awarding state dollars to Planned Parenthood.”
Despite what Planned Parenthood claims, a strong majority of Ohioans want Planned Parenthood to be de-funded and the money redistributed to community health centers, according to a new poll.
Pollsters found 64 percent of Ohioans believe that U.S. Congress should end taxpayer funding to Planned Parenthood, which received more than $528 million in taxpayer funding in 2014.
Even more Ohioans (68 percent) say taxpayers should not subsidize a group liked Planned Parenthood, and the government should redirect funding to the thousands of health clinics across the country that provide comprehensive health care to women and their families.
The abortion group also accused Kasich of trying to hide his pro-life stance on the campaign trail, claiming that if voters knew his “extreme” record they would not vote for him. Kasich recently won second place in the New Hampshire primary.
Since becoming governor, Kasich has signed 16 Ohio Right to Life initiatives to protect women and their unborn babies, LifeNews reported. Ohio House Bill 294, which strips Planned Parenthood of more than $1 million in yearly federal grants, is the next pro-life bill on its way to Kasich’s desk.
This legislation, which is at the top of Ohio Right to Life’s 2015-2016 legislative agenda, received renewed interest following the release of undercover videos showing Planned Parenthood officials negotiating dollar amounts for aborted babies’ body parts. In December, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine revealed that in Ohio, Planned Parenthood locations are contracting with companies that dump fetal remains in landfills.
“Ohio’s pro-life leaders have shown the public how to respond to the heinous actions of the abortion industry,” said Stephanie Ranade Krider, executive director of Ohio Right to Life. “With bipartisanship, with compassion, and with moral courage, the House and Senate have delivered to Governor Kasich a piece of legislation that will go down as historical. This legislation will mark the extraordinary moment when Ohio decided to get out of the abortion business.”
Kasich has been fairly vocal about his disapproval of Planned Parenthood in the wake of videos exposing their organ harvesting business. In July, a spokesperson for Gov. Kasich said in press release that he supports investigating the abortion company’s practices in Ohio.
In September, Kasich called for de-funding Planned Parenthood.
In an interview with Newsmax TV he said: “I’m for getting rid of all this Planned Parenthood funding and to be able to shift it to other kinds of family planning institutions. But if you shut the government down, the president is not going to give on this. Shut the government down and then open it up without achieving anything — there may be some people that think that’s great. I do not and neither do the vast majority, I believe, of American voters and Americans themselves…”
As LifeNews previously reported, Kasich has a strong pro-life record. In fact, under his leadership, Ohio abortions dropped to an all time low and when he took office, the state had 18 abortion facilities and now they have 11.
