Ohio House Sends Legislation to De-fund Planned Parenthood to Governor Kasich
Ohio Legislature Gives Final Approval to Bill Stripping $1.3 Million from Abortion Business
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Katherine Franklin
DATE: Wednesday, February 10, 2016 PHONE: 614-547-0099 ext. 304
COLUMBUS, Ohio–Today, Ohio Right to Life’s legislation to de-fund Planned Parenthood (H.B. 294) was approved by the Ohio House, 59-32. Sponsored by Representatives Margaret Conditt (R-Liberty Township) and Bill Patmon (D-Cleveland), this legislation cuts over $1 million in yearly federal grants to Planned Parenthood, the country’s largest abortion provider. This legislation, which is at the top of Ohio Right to Life’s 2015-2016 legislative agenda, received renewed interest following the release of undercover videos showing Planned Parenthood officials negotiating dollar amounts for aborted babies’ body parts. In December, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine revealed that in Ohio, Planned Parenthood locations are contracting with companies that dump fetal remains in landfills.
“This legislation has been at the top of Ohio Right to Life’s legislative agenda for years,” said Stephanie Ranade Krider, executive director of Ohio Right to Life. “Thanks to the thoughtful, careful work of the Ohio House and Senate, the taxpayer dollars of pro-life Ohioans like myself will now be shielded from the abortion industry. This is an incredible victory for the pro-life cause in Ohio and for the national pro-life movement’s collective efforts to de-fund the abortion industry chief, Planned Parenthood.”
At the end of January, the Ohio Senate passed the legislation, 22-8. House Bill 294 now heads to the desk of Governor John Kasich, who has signed 16 Ohio Right to Life initiatives over the last five years. Following the release of the first undercover video of Planned Parenthood, the Governor’s office released a statement saying, “This is illegal under both Ohio and federal laws and anyone who violates those laws should be prosecuted to the fullest extent possible, and credible evidence of a possible violation should be fully investigated.” In recent weeks, he called Planned Parenthood a “completely discredited organization.”
“Ohio’s pro-life leaders have shown the public how to respond to the heinous actions of the abortion industry,” said Krider. “With bipartisanship, with compassion, and with moral courage, the House and Senate have delivered to Governor Kasich a piece of legislation that will go down as historical. This legislation will mark the extraordinary moment when Ohio decided to get out of the abortion business.”
Ohio Right to Life thanks the following pro-life leaders and organizations for their support for H.B. 294:
- Alliance Defending Freedom
- Ashtabula County Friends for Life
- Champaign County Right to Life
- Charlotte Lozier Institute
- College Republicans, Lourdes University
- Dayton Right to Life
- Heartbeat of Toledo
- Life Works Ohio
- Dr. Kathleen Lutter, OB-GYN
- Mercer County Right to Life
- Miami County Right to Life
- Right to Life of Northeast Ohio
- Dr. Michael Parker, OB-GYN
- Pregnancy Decision Health Centers
- Students for Life of America
- Students for Life – University of Akron
- Pro-life Club – The Ohio State University
- Students for Life – Miami University
- Pro-life Club – Bishop Hartley High School
- Eagles for Life – Chaminade Julienne High School
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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