Ohio defunds Planned Parenthood, redirects roughly $1.3 million

On Sunday, Ohio Governor John Kasich signed legislation that will defund Planned Parenthood by forbidding the state from making health service contracts with any abortion-providing organization.

Kasich, who is running for president and has signed a number of pro-life bills, vowed on February 9 that continued Planned Parenthood subsidies were “not going to happen.”

Ohio is the 10th state in the union to take action to eliminate public subsidies to the abortion giant. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker recently signed two measures defunding Planned Parenthood into law.

The bill takes approximately $1.3 million per year that Planned Parenthood facilities in the state had been receiving, and instead directs it to federally qualified health centers, health departments, and other non-abortion health providers.

In addition, it earmarks $250,000 in Medicaid funds exclusively for community health centers. Taxpayer funds account for roughly 5 percent of Planned Parenthood’s state budget.

There are 10 comprehensive health care clinics in Ohio for every Planned Parenthood facility.

Commenting on the news, Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Casey Mattox said:

Not one more penny should go to Planned Parenthood, a scandal-plagued abortion business that does not provide comprehensive health care services for women. Ohio’s new law terminates funding for Planned Parenthood and other abortion businesses, freeing up money for more widely available and more comprehensive low-cost healthcare options for women and families in the state. Taxpayer dollars should not go to organizations with a long track record of abusive and potentially fraudulent billing practices, that have been caught in authenticated undercover videos negotiating prices for baby body parts, and that have repeatedly failed to report the sexual abuse of girls. Ohio is right to end its relationship with organizations undeserving of taxpayer money and unworthy of the taxpayers’ trust.