Planned Parenthood has been in a rage ever since Ohio Governor John Kasich signed a bill defunding the abortion chain on Sunday, making Ohio the 10th state in the nation to do so. The legislation stopped Ohio’s practice of signing health service contracts with any business or facility that commits abortions. It redirected about $1.3 million in funding from Planned Parenthood specifically, to health care clinics that serve women and their families without committing abortions.
Obviously, this means that the same $1.3 million dollars will still be going to women’s health services, but will not be lining the pockets of Planned Parenthood or other abortion facilities. Additionally, no state dollars will be subsidizing abortion. Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards is now using a strange line of reasoning to denounce the new Ohio law.
CNN reports Richards released a statement that said, in part:
This legislation will have devastating consequences for women across Ohio. John Kasich is proudly eliminating care for expectant mothers and newborns; he is leaving thousands without vital STD and HIV testing, slashing a program to fight domestic violence, and cutting access to essential, basic health care.
Wait…what? First, there’s the blatant lie that Gov. Kasich is “eliminating” care for anyone. When funds are redirected from abortion chains to legitimate health care clinics, no one’s care is eliminated. People are instead served by better organizations who actually care for human life.
If you personally decided to spend your budgeted grocery money at King Soopers instead of Safeway, would you be “eliminating” your children’s supply of milk? Or would you instead simply be redirecting your grocery money to a different store? Your children would still be drinking milk, and it would be incredibly disingenuous of Safeway to claim that your children no longer had any milk to drink.
Planned Parenthood is doing the same thing. If people get their STD tests at a FQHQ or a community health care center instead of Planned Parenthood, they are still getting their STD tests. The money is being redirected, not stripped away.
Moreover, since when has Planned Parenthood ever had a program to care for newborns? When did newborns become a demographic served by PP? Planned Parenthood clinics occasionally refer expectant mothers to an OBGYN who can provide pregnancy care for them. In fact, referral to prenatal care providers is the only service Planned Parenthood offers in Ohio to women who want to keep their babies, according to their own website.
For some women – like my sister-in-law, Planned Parenthood’s “referral” consists of a disconnected number. She was also told the ultrasound machine at Planned Parenthood was broken when she came to the facility and said she was planning to keep her baby.
Addison, a 17-year-old who went to Planned Parenthood seeking care as an expectant mother, told what happened to her:
The same day I called them and told them that I had a blood test and it confirmed pregnancy, and I needed to see if I could see a doctor about prenatal care, and what I could and couldn’t do [to] keep the baby healthy.
They then told me that unless I had a sexually transmitted disease or wanted an abortion that they could no longer help me. I said “So y’all do not help pregnant women?” They told me no, that they didn’t have doctors for pregnant women.
Additionally, Live Action has uncovered abortionists who admit they are willing to leave newborn children to die, after they survive botched abortions. A Planned Parenthood spokeswoman told the Florida legislature in 2013 that leaving newborn children to die should be a decision between the mother and the Planned Parenthood abortionist.
Cecile Richards needs to stop with the lies and deceptive claims. Ohio is not taking away care from anyone. Ohio is, instead, wisely taking funds from corrupt abortion chains and spending it on people where they will truly be cared for. (This article explains more about the kind of clinics who will be receiving the $1.3 million.)
As far as newborns, the state of Ohio will indeed by serving them in ways far greater than Planned Parenthood has ever contemplated – particularly since Planned Parenthood so often pushes abortion onto women and turns them away from legitimate help if they want to give birth to their babies.
CNN reports:
On the campaign trail Kasich frequently talks about the importance of funding for expecting mothers and newborn babies. A spokesman for Kasich’s gubernatorial office, Joe Andrews, said in a statement the new Ohio law is consistent with those views.
“The Ohio Department of Health has at least 150 other sub-grantees and contractors for the affected grants and projects addressing such issues as new born babies, infant mortality, expectant mothers, violence against women, and minority HIV/AIDS,” the statement said. “ODH will reallocate funding from ineligible providers under the new law to other currently eligible providers, ranging from local health departments and community organizations to hospitals and universities. …”
