A bill that would defund Planned Parenthood in Ohio and redirect funding to other health-care centers is headed to the desk of Republican Gov. John Kasich after the state House gave it final approval Wednesday.
Mr. Kasich, a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, is expected to sign H.B. 294, which would stop the flow of state and federal grants to health organizations such as Planned Parenthood Greater Ohio that perform or promote abortions.
That $1.3 million in annual funding would instead be diverted to health departments and federally qualified health centers, which supporters say operate about 200 such clinics statewide.
Ohio becomes the ninth state to act to defund Planned Parenthood affiliates in the wake of last year’s undercover videos by the pro-life Center for Medical Progress, which accuse the organization of illegally profiting from fetal-tissue sales, an allegation Planned Parenthood has denied.
Neither vote in the Ohio legislature was close: The House tally in favor of the legislation was 59-32, while the Senate voted 22-8 last month to approve the measure, in spite of strong opposition from Planned Parenthood.
“Today, the Ohio General Assembly, once again, chose politics over people,” said Stephanie Kight, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio, in a statement.
She urged Mr. Kasich to “listen to his constituents and veto this bill,” while her group released an ad Tuesday asking him to “stand up for women’s health”
Mr. Kasich said last week on the campaign trail in Iowa that he would sign a bill to defund Planned Parenthood. His spokesman Joe Andrews said Wednesday the bill “further reinforces Ohio’s policies.”
“The Ohio Department of Health had already stopped awarding state dollars to Planned Parenthood and they were kicked to the back of the line for the federal government’s family planning grants that the department administers,” Mr. Andrews told the Columbus [Ohio] Dispatch.
Stephanie Ranade Krider, executive director of Ohio Right to Life, said the bill “has been at the top of Ohio Right to Life’s legislative agenda for years.”
“Thanks to the thoughtful, careful work of the Ohio House and Senate, the taxpayer dollars of pro-life Ohioans like myself will now be shielded from the abortion industry,” she said in a statement. “This is an incredible victory for the pro-life cause in Ohio and for the national pro-life movement’s collective efforts to de-fund the abortion industry chief, Planned Parenthood.”
Meanwhile, NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio Executive Director Kellie Copeland accused Mr. Kasich of timing the legislation to coincide with the South Carolina Republican presidential primary.
“Clearly the motivation behind the content and timing of this legislation is to bolster John Kasich’s campaign to anti-choice voters in South Carolina,” Ms. Copeland said in a statement.
A press release from Planned Parenthood shows a photo of a handful of protesters standing outside the state legislature with signs, including a pink one with the word, “VETO.”
“As the vote was announced, several spectators shouted, ’Shame! Shame! Shame’ before being ushered from the chamber,” the Toledo Blade reported.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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