Today [Wednesday, January 27] Planned Parenthood was stripped of $1.3 million in state funding by the Ohio Senate.
The Senate passed the bill 22-8 along party lines. The House is expected to follow suit next month, sending the measure to Governor John Kasich for his signature.
Scores of Planned Parenthood advocates were present to hear the ruling. Like supporters of the organization nationwide, they argued PP, with 28 clinics in Ohio, is one of the few places for low-income women to go for services including cancer screenings and contraceptives.
Columbus health officials have warned the bill “would undermine efforts to combat infant mortality, coordinate with area hospitals, and bill insurance companies.” But Senators like Peggy Lehner [R-Kettering] are happy with the bill passing because of PP performs roughly one third of the abortions performed in Ohio. “For many Ohioans, that is deeply offensive and strikes at the very core of our beliefs,” Lehner says.
Other Senators questioned the capacity of federally qualified health care centers or pregnancy crisis centers to handle the clientele that Planned Parenthood serves.
“I’m not really sure we have the capacity in those rural communities to pick up the slack, even if it goes to the county health department. I don’t know if the infrastructure is there,” Senator Cafaro said.
