Columbus — Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine will appeal a unanimous decision from the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals that blocked John Kasich’s unconstitutional 2016 bill to defund Planned Parenthood.
NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio Executive Director Kellie Copeland said: “Mike DeWine would rather Ohioans suffer in pain and agony from cancer and AIDS than allow Planned Parenthood to help them. He is fighting against funding for rape prevention programs. Mike DeWine is putting funds at risk that would combat Ohio’s infant mortality crisis. He’s willing to do all of this just to further his anti-abortion crusade and to appeal to conservative Republican primary voters. Think about that.”
The bill aimed to block Planned Parenthood from receiving these state funds:
the Violence Against Women Act;
the Breast and Cervical Cancer Mortality Prevention Act;
the Infertility Prevention Project;
the Minority HIV/AIDS Initiative;
Infant Mortality Reduction or Infant Vitality Initiatives;
and the Personal Responsibility Education Program.
Because of broad wording, the bill could stop health departments in Ohio’s largest cities and counties from accessing these funds. Existing contracts between health care facilities and hospitals or insurance providers would trigger the funding ban at any mention of abortion options by physicians or in written materials, which would eliminate options for care. Any city or county health department that works with an independent abortion provider or contracts with a hospital that performs a single abortion in which the pregnancy is not due to rape or incest, or does not endanger the woman’s life, would be blocked from listed state funds.
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