Ohio Gov. John Kasich on Sunday signed a bill intended to block Planned Parenthood from receiving funding for services it provides in health clinics around the state, although the new law would have no impact on abortion services.
The bill, sponsored by Democratic Rep. Bill Patmon of Cleveland and Republican Rep. Margaret Conditt of Butler County, forbids the state from contracting for health services with any entity that performs or promotes non-therapeutic abortions.
That Kasich signed the bill is no surprise. As Ohio has wrestled with regulating abortion over time, Kasich has voiced his anti-abortion stance. He has publicly supported the idea of defunding Planned Parenthood in Ohio while campaigning for the Republican nomination for president.
Whether the bill ever takes effect remains to be seen. With the governor’s signature, the bill would become law in 90 days.
But nationally, Planned Parenthood has fought other defunding attempts. In several cases the courts have set those laws aside as unconstitutional, most recently in Utah.
The bill redirects about $1.3 million in state-directed grants from Ohio’s 28 Planned Parenthood centers to federally qualified health centers, health departments, and other facilities that don’t perform elective abortions or contract with organizations that do. It also earmarks $250,000 from Medicaid funding for community health centers only.
Ohio Right to Life, the state’s leading anti-abortion organization, argued the bill was necessary because the money helped Planned Parenthood pay for staff and clinic costs, helping to keep them operating, even if it was not used directly for abortion.
Planned Parenthood clinics use the funding addressed in the bill to pay for HIV and cancer screenings, sexual health education programs, and infant mortality prevention, among other health services.
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