A bill that seeks to defund Planned Parenthood cleared the Ohio House on Wednesday and now heads to Gov. John Kasich to be signed into law.
House Bill 294 passed mostly along party lines in a 62-32 vote, with Republican Reps. Nathan Manning of North Ridgeville and Jeffery Rezabek of Clayton breaking with their party to vote against the measure. The Senate approved the bill last month. Kasich has said he will not veto the bill.
The bill prohibits the Ohio Department of Health from awarding state and federal grants to any organization that performs or “promotes” abortion or to any organization that contracts with such an organization.
Instead, the money will be available to health departments, federally qualified health centers, and other clinics — supporters say there are more than 200 such facilities.
The bill also earmarks $250,000 of existing funding for community health centers to teach safe sleep, smoking cessation and other practices to prevent infant deaths and allows health departments and other clinics to sign up pregnant women for Medicaid and provide services while their applications are pending. Planned Parenthood centers would not be eligible for the infant mortality program funding.
The law will likely trigger a court battle over the funds. Courts in other states that have defunded Planned Parenthood have sided with the organization and temporarily delayed the laws’ implementation.
The legislation targets Planned Parenthood of Southwest Ohio and Greater Ohio, which perform abortion services at three of their 27 clinics.
Planned Parenthood received about $1.3 million in competitive state grants last year — a small part of its overall budget.
But the bill affects more than Planned Parenthood, say Columbus public health officials. They warn the bill could jeopardize funding for county health departments and other entities that contract with hospitals which perform abortions.
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