Cincinnati — The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that legislation passed by the Ohio General Assembly and signed by Governor John Kasich to end state funding for Planned Parenthood was unconstitutional.
NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio Executive Director Kellie Copeland said: “Once again, the courts have blocked an ideologically motivated scheme to defund Planned Parenthood. Had this bill been upheld, it would have jeopardized access to critically important health care programs including minority HIV/AIDS testing, and infant mortality reduction initiatives—and what for? Because anti-choice politicians want to pressure Planned Parenthood to stop providing abortion care. These Republicans didn’t care who got hurt.”
Copeland continued: “Attorney General, and candidate for governor, Mike DeWine should not waste more taxpayer dollars appealing this ruling. Ohioans must be able to make their own health care decisions, including which health care provider to turn to, without meddling from DeWine or his anti-choice allies in the Ohio Legislature.”
The bill aimed to block Planned Parenthood from 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 intended 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, eliminating 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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