Legislature Launches Fall Hearings on De-Funding Planned Parenthood and Pain-Capable Abortion Ban
Pro-life Legislation Continues to Advance through Ohio General Assembly
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Katherine Franklin
DATE: Tuesday, October 6, 2015 PHONE: 614-547-0099 ext. 304
COLUMBUS, Ohio–Today, the House Committee on Community and Family Advancement began hearings on Ohio Right to Life’s legislation to de-fund Planned Parenthood (HB 294) and the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (SB 127). Senator Peggy Lehner (R-Kettering) gave sponsor testimony on Pain-Capable, while Representatives Margaret Conditt (R-Liberty Township) and Bill Patmon (D-Cleveland) gave sponsor testimony on de-funding Planned Parenthood. Both are key pieces of legislation that are part of Ohio Right to Life’s broader legislative agenda that was announced in February. The pro-life initiatives have received renewed interest following the summer’s undercover video scandal that shows Planned Parenthood officials allegedly selling aborted baby body parts.
“As Planned Parenthood officials negotiate the dollar amount they can put on aborted babies’ livers, hearts, lungs and brains, our legislation to de-fund Planned Parenthood and to protect pain-capable babies are more linked than ever,” said Stephanie Ranade Krider, executive director of Ohio Right to Life. “Our elected leaders’ willingness to take initiative and protect pain-capable babies from being dismembered shows a strong response to this summer’s horrific revelations.”
Today’s hearings coincided with Ohio Right to Life and Students for Life of America’s Pro-life Student Lobby Day in which 40 Ohio students met with senators and representatives to promote the de-funding of Planned Parenthood and the Pain-Capable legislation. In June, the Ohio Senate passed the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, 23-9. In the following months, Representatives Patmon and Conditt and Senate President Keith Faber (R-Celina) introduced legislation to de-fund Planned Parenthood in the state of Ohio. In 2013, Planned Parenthood received $528 million in taxpayer subsidies, while performing 327,653 the same year. In Ohio, Planned Parenthood makes up a third of our state’s abortion facilities.
“It is incumbent upon Ohioans to show compassion for the vulnerable and pose a sharp contrast to the inhumane and callous attitudes of Planned Parenthood officials,” said Krider. “Ohio Right to Life sincerely thanks Chairman Tim Derickson for beginning hearings on these critical public policies. We look forward to continuing to work with House leadership to bring an end to the abortion industry’s stomach-turning profiteering.”
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.