Ohio Senate votes to unfund Planned Parenthood

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By Frank Lewis

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The Ohio Senate has voted to defund Planned Parenthood. By a 23-10 vote the Senate voted in the affirmative on Senate Bill 214 Wednesday after more than 20 people from across the state provided testimony both for and against the legislation.

“As the U.S. Supreme Court has said, state governments have a real interest in preserving and promoting the health and safety of babies before they are born,” Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Casey Mattox said. “States have authority to enact laws and policies that encourage childbirth over abortion, including withholding taxpayer subsidies. In fact, states aren’t required to commit any resources to facilitating abortion.”

Mattox testified before the Ohio Senate’s Government Oversight and Reform Committee to provide expert legal opinion on the legality and constitutionality of the bill.

S.B. 214 reads in part – “The Supreme Court has observed that state governments have “a legitimate and substantial interest in preserving and promoting fetal life.” To further that end, States have authority to enact laws and policies that encourage childbirth over abortion including withholding taxpayer subsidies for abortion.”

The bill goes on to say – “The Supreme Court has never held that providers or physicians have a constitutional right to perform abortions—or any medical procedure for that matter—independent from the rights of the patient.”

The bill now goes to the Ohio House for consideration.

Reach Frank Lewis at 740-353-3101, ext. 1928, or on Twitter @franklewis.

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