Ohio Gov. John Kasich signs bill to cut funding to Planned Parenthood in Ohio

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio Gov. John Kasich on Sunday signed a bill intended to block Planned Parenthood from receiving funding for services it provides in health clinics around the state, although the new law would have no impact on abortion services.

The bill, sponsored by Democratic Rep. Bill Patmon of Cleveland and Republican Rep. Margaret Conditt of Butler County, forbids the state from contracting for health services with any entity that performs or promotes non-therapeutic abortions.

That Kasich signed the bill is no surprise. As Ohio has wrestled with regulating abortion over time, Kasich has voiced his anti-abortion stance. He has publicly supported the idea of defunding Planned Parenthood in Ohio while campaigning for the Republican nomination for president.

His office announced the action without further comment.

Whether the bill ever takes effect remains to be seen. With the governor’s signature, the bill would become law in 90 days.

But nationally, Planned Parenthood has fought other defunding attempts. In several cases the courts have set those laws aside as unconstitutional, most recently in Utah.

Kasich’s action drew harsh criticism from Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of American and the Planned Parenthood Action Fund.

“This legislation will have devastating consequences for women across Ohio. John Kasich is proudly eliminating care for expectant mothers and newborns; leaving thousands without vital STD and HIV testing, slashing a program to fight domestic violence, and cutting access to essential, basic health care,” Richards said in a statement.

The bill redirects about $1.3 million in state-directed grants from Ohio’s 28 Planned Parenthood centers to federally qualified health centers, health departments, and other facilities that don’t perform elective abortions or contract with organizations that do. It also earmarks $250,000 from Medicaid funding for community health centers only.

Ohio Right to Life, the state’s leading anti-abortion organization, argued the bill was necessary because the money helped Planned Parenthood pay for staff and clinic costs, helping to keep them operating, even if it was not used directly for abortion.

Planned Parenthood clinics use the funding addressed in the bill to pay for HIV and cancer screenings, sexual health education programs, and infant mortality prevention, among other health services.

It represents about 5 percent of the organization’s statewide budget, according to Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio and its largest affiliate, Planned Parenthood of Southwest Ohio.

Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio CEO Stephanie Kight has said the cuts will not force the organization to close clinics or stop providing abortion services and they will try to replace funding for the affected programs.

The push for this bill was fueled by secretly-recorded videos released last summer that purported to show Planned Parenthood employees in other states selling aborted fetuses and fetal parts.

Planned Parenthood denied any wrongdoing and an investigation by Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine did not find Ohio clinics sold fetal tissue. But lawmakers were not dissuaded, even after a Texas grand jury in January found no wrongdoing by the abortion provider and instead indicted the anti-abortion activist who filmed the videos.

Later that same week, Republicans in the Ohio Senate approved the bill, with some changes, sending it back to the Ohio House. Republicans in that chamber approved the bill earlier this month.

Ohio Democratic Party Chairman David Pepper, in a statement Sunday, also criticized Kasich and Republicans for the legislation.

“With his decision today to sign House Bill 294, Governor Kasich has finally answered the question of whose side he’s really on,” Pepper said in the statement. “Rather than listen to the majority of Ohioans who oppose defunding Planned Parenthood, Kasich decided to take sides with radical extremists who were recently indicted on felony charges.”

Ohio Gov. John Kasich signs bill to cut funding to Planned Parenthood in Ohio