Poll: Two-Thirds of Ohioans Want to De-Fund Planned Parenthood
Majority of Ohioans agree taxpayer funding should be redirected to other health centers
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Katherine Franklin
DATE: Thursday, October 29, 2015 PHONE: 614-547-0099 ext. 304
COLUMBUS, Ohio–Today, Alliance Defending Freedom announced the results of a Public Opinion Strategies poll showing that a majority of Ohioans support de-funding Planned Parenthood in light of controversial videos released by the Center for Medical Progress showing Planned Parenthood officials allegedly selling the body parts of aborted babies. Sixty-four percent of Ohioans agree that Congress should end taxpayer funding to Planned Parenthood, which received more than $528 million dollars in taxpayer funding in 2014.
“It’s no surprise that as more and more Ohioans become aware of Planned Parenthood’s grisly, callous discussions of babies’ hearts, livers, and brains, Ohioans would become increasingly repulsed by their business model,” said Stephanie Ranade Krider, executive director of Ohio Right to Life. “For the last three months, Planned Parenthood has desperately tried to cover their tracks, playing public relations defense like we’ve never seen. No amount of pink t-shirts or tired doublespeak will convince Ohioans that aborting and harvesting babies’ brains is morally acceptable.”
Last Wednesday, the Ohio Senate approved legislation to de-fund Planned Parenthood, 23-10. The legislation was originally listed as part of Ohio Right to Life’s 2015-2016 legislative agenda which was announced in February. The bill has received renewed momentum from this summer’s undercover video scandal. Senate Bill 214 is sponsored by Senate President Keith Faber (R-Celina). Casey Mattox, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, testified last week that SB 214 is both constitutional and consistent with applicable federal law.
“When the so-called ‘Walmart’ of abortion is bringing in $127 million in excess revenue, it’s time our government ends its business relationship with this entity,” said Krider. “Ohio is home to hundreds of clinics and organizations that are providing free to low-cost care to hundreds of thousands of Ohioans–without doing abortions. We’re proud to see that Ohioans definitively oppose the abortion corporatism Planned Parenthood has become accustomed to.”
Alliance Defending Freedom reports the following findings from the Public Opinion Strategies poll:
- Sixty-seven percent of Ohioans agree that Congress should help community clinics provide affordable and comprehensive health services. However, continuing to fund Planned Parenthood, which is currently under investigation for the sale of fetal body parts, is not the way to do that.
- Sixty-eight percent of Ohioans agree that taxpayers should not subsidize an organization like Planned Parenthood, which recent undercover videos reveal as potentially illegally harvesting and selling baby parts. Rather, the government should redirect funding to the thousands of health clinics around the country that provide low-cost, comprehensive, high-quality health care to women.
- Sixty-four percent of Ohioans agree that Congress should end taxpayer funding to Planned Parenthood, which received more than $528 million dollars in taxpayer funding in 2014. Planned Parenthood should operate using the almost $700 million dollars in annual revenue it receives from private sources.
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.