Ohio’s Republican legislators took a step forward Wednesday in defunding Planned Parenthood by voting to push House Bill 298 through committee and into the Ohio House of Representatives floor.
The bill seeks to strip $1.7 million from Planned Parenthood clinics in the state, and would prioritize state family planning funding to entities that best provide comprehensive health care to women and away from entities that perform abortions—like Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider. Prior to Wednesday’s vote, Susan B. Anthony List members in Ohio sent a wave of nearly 3,000 messages encouraging their representatives to support the legislation.
SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser praised the Ohio Health and Aging Committee Wednesday afternoon for voting 11-9 to send House Bill 298 to the floor of the state legislature.
“In one year, Planned Parenthood ended the lives of 329,445 children and ill-served their mothers; that’s not comprehensive whole-woman care no matter how Planned Parenthood executives try to spin it,” said Dannenfelser. “We applaud the undaunted Ohio state representatives who, acting on the will of the pro-life citizens of the Buckeye State, are wasting no time in working to get taxpayers out of the abortion business. Planned Parenthood and other abortion-centered businesses simply do not need or deserve taxpayer dollars.
“This legislation does not reduce family planning funding by one cent,” she continued. “It simply ensures that taxpayer funding is prioritized to agencies that can best serve the needs of Ohio women. It is a health care upgrade for women at no additional cost to the taxpayer, and we urge the state legislature to pass this bill.”
In February, Chuck Donovan, president of the Charlotte Lozier Institute, the SBA List’s education and research arm, testified before the Ohio Health & Aging Committee in favor of HB 298. This year, the SBA List has worked with Ohio allies, including Ohio Right to Life, to advance the legislation and has repeatedly mobilized Ohio activists to contact their state representatives in support of the bill.
Planned Parenthood is the nation’s largest abortion business, performing 329,445 abortions in 2010 alone. In 2010, abortions made up 91 percent of Planned Parenthood’s pregnancy services, while prenatal care and adoption referrals accounted for only 8.6 percent (31,098) and 0.2 percent (841), respectively. For every adoption referral, Planned Parenthood performed 392 abortions.
Since 2011, 10 states have enacted legislation or have taken administrative action to redirect taxpayer funding away from Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers. An additional four states have introduced legislation. The SBA List has played a role in 12 states.
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