John Kasich signs Planned Parenthood defunding bill, ending tax payer money for abortions

Ohio Gov. John Kasich signed HB 294 into law Sunday, a move which significantly restricts public funding for abortion businesses such as Planned Parenthood, making Ohio the 10th state to take action in recent months to strip taxpayer dollars from the abortion giant plagued by Center for Medical Progress videos showing the illegal practices.

Kasich had a poor showing in South Carolina’s primary, frequently talking about the importance of funding for expecting mothers and newborn babies. A spokesman for Kasich’s gubernatorial office, Joe Andrews, said in a statement the new Ohio law is consistent with those views.

Planned Parenthood supporters at protest 2011 photo/S. MiRK via wikimedia commons

“The Ohio Department of Health has at least 150 other sub-grantees and contractors for the affected grants and projects addressing such issues as new born babies, infant mortality, expectant mothers, violence against women, and minority HIV/AIDS,” the statement said. “ODH will reallocate funding from ineligible providers under the new law to other currently eligible providers, ranging from local health departments and community organizations to hospitals and universities. These organizations will be required to submit proposals in order to receive funding.”

“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,” Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Casey Mattox (#DefundPP)

Mattox testified before the Ohio Senate’s Government Oversight and Reform Committee in October of last year to provide expert legal opinion on the legality and constitutionality of the earlier Senate version of the bill.

The bill was swiftly denounced by Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards.

“This legislation will have devastating consequences for women across Ohio,” Richards said in a statement. “John Kasich is proudly eliminating care for expectant mothers and newborns; he is leaving thousands without vital STD and HIV testing, slashing a program to fight domestic violence, and cutting access to essential, basic health care.”

photo/ donkeyhotey