On Wednesday, the Ohio Senate voted 23-10 on a party-line vote to eliminate Planned Parenthood’s $1.3 million in annual taxpayer funding.
SB 214 would prohibit the abortion giant, or any other organizations which perform elective abortions, from receiving a variety of grants and forbid taxpayer funded entities such as public schools and local health departments from contracting with Planned Parenthood for services.
It would instead send that money to Federally Qualified Health Centers or other community health clinics which are not involved with abortion. Such health providers outnumber Planned Parenthood locations ten-to-one in Ohio.
The Ohio House of Representatives is also Republican-controlled, and is expected to pass the measure as well. Republican Governor John Kasich is expected to sign it into law. If that happens, Ohio will become the seventh state to defund Planned Parenthood.
In response to the news, Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Casey Mattox, who testified on behalf of the bill, declared, “As the U.S. Supreme Court has said, state governments have a real interest in preserving and promoting the health and safety of babies before they are born. States have authority to enact laws and policies that encourage childbirth over abortion, including withholding taxpayer subsidies. In fact, states aren’t required to commit any resources to facilitating abortion.”
