Kasich Admin Denies Variances to Planned Parenthood and Women’s Med Center


Two Facilities Could Close, Leaving Southwest Ohio Abortion-Free

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE       CONTACT: Katherine Franklin
DATE: Friday, September 25, 2015     PHONE: 614-547-0099 ext. 304

COLUMBUS, Ohio–Today, the Ohio Department of Health denied variance requests to Southwest Ohio’s two abortion facilities, Planned Parenthood in Cincinnati and Women’s Med Center of Dayton. The State of Ohio requires ambulatory surgical facilities to have a written transfer agreement with a local hospital to provide continued care in the event of emergencies. If a facility cannot obtain an agreement, it may request a variance from the law, providing a sufficient number of backup physicians. The denial follows Governor Kasich’s enactment of a new policy that requires the Department of Health to respond to a facility’s license application in reasonable time.

“After a summer mired in scandal, Planned Parenthood is now facing closure here in Ohio because of their failure to comply with some of our state’s most basic safety requirements,” said Mike Gonidakis, president of Ohio Right to Life. “Americans are turning a critical eye on America’s abortion industry for a reason: Planned Parenthood and the rest of the abortion industry are consistently proving themselves to exist on the fringe of the traditional medical community, unwilling to follow either ethical guidelines set by their profession or unable to meet basic health standards enforced by the Department of Health. Ohio Right to Life is grateful to Governor Kasich and his administration for continuing to prioritize the health and safety of Ohio’s women and children in the face of the abortion industry’s reckless abandon.”  

Last summer marked the end of surgical abortions at of one of Southwest Ohio’s three abortion facilities, Lebanon Road Surgery Center, operated by Martin Haskell. The pending closure of Planned Parenthood and Women’s Med Center could mean Southwest Ohio will soon be abortion-free.

“Planned Parenthood and Martin Haskell consistently represent the extremism in the abortion debate that most Americans reject,” said Gonidakis. “One is allegedly selling aborted baby body parts, and the other is the self-proclaimed poster child of the now banned partial-birth abortion technique. Not only are they the perpetrators of grave crimes against human dignity, they can’t even keep up with the traditional medical community and meet the simplest health standards. Ohio Right to Life thanks the Kasich Administration for refusing to let these fringe elements skirt our state’s public health policy.”  

Editor’s Note: The release originally stated that Lebanon Road Surgery Center closed last year. It has been updated to state that the center ended surgical abortions last year. The facility remains open.

Founded in 1967, Ohio Right to Life, with more than 45 chapters and local affiliates, is Ohio’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. Recognized as the flagship of the pro-life movement in Ohio, ORTL works through legislation and education to promote and defend innocent human life from conception to natural death. 

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