Last month, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned lower-court rulings and gave Ohio the go-ahead to implement its 2016 law and cut off funding for all 26 of the state’s Planned Parenthood-affiliated clinics on the grounds they are connected to the three facilities among them that perform abortions. As in the majority of other states, except for incest, rape, and life endangerment of the woman, it’s already the case that no public money can be spent to pay for abortions in Ohio.
The appeals court’s decision in Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio v. Hodges allows forced-birther officials to punish clinics and their clients by taking away funding to cover the cost of providing services related to sexual education, family planning and birth control, HIV and sexually transmitted diseases, cancer screening, pregnancy, and other health-related matters. The state began notifying clinics late last month that current funding will run out April 20. Last year, Ohio provided $600,000 in grants to Planned Parenthood clinics, giving them the money needed to provide their services to people who would have a hard time affording them otherwise.
When official notices of the cut-off started appearing at the clinics, Iris Harvey, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio, said, "These are services that other health centers simply cannot replace. Ohio continues to put politics over people, putting them at greater risk. This isn't about politics, this is about lifesaving health care."
But, of course, it is about politics. Otherwise health care, including reproductive care and abortions, would simply be matters between women and their physicians, and no concern of government officials, state or federal.
Typically, what anti-abortion advocates pass in one state to control women’s bodies eventually winds up passing in other states as well. If the 6th Circuit’s Hodges decision is allowed to stand by the Supreme Court, other states can be counted on to follow Ohio’s lead.