Ohio Republicans introduce measure to block money from going to Planned Parenthood

Proposed legislation would block money from going to abortion providers, such as Planned Parenthood, the latest salvo in the battle to stop tax dollars from going to the group.

House Bill 410, sponsored by Ohio Reps. Adam Mathews, R-Lebanon, and Jean Schmidt, R-Loveland, effectively is a state-level version of the one-year federal ban on Medicaid paying abortion providers.

“No medicaid funds shall be paid to an entity that is prohibited from receiving federal funds under section 71113 of Pub. Law No. 119-21,” the simple one-page bill reads.

“There is consistent jurisprudence that says just because something is legal does not mean the state has to pay for it,” Mathews told The Cincinnati Enquirer.

Unsurprisingly, pro-abortion groups decried the measure as a “serious attack.”

“This is a very serious attack that is already bad enough from the federal level, and does not need to be continued at the state level,” Blauvelt told The Cincinnati Enquirer. “Ultimately, the attack and the impact are felt by our patients who cannot use their insurance to go to their provider of choice.”

This isn’t the first time state lawmakers have taken aim at Planned Parenthood.

In 2016, under former Republican Gov. John Kasich, state Republicans cut $1.4 million in federal funding the state health department allocated to Planned Parenthood for various health efforts, including HIV testing, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported. Planned Parenthood launched an unsuccessful legal challenge.

“We are used to this fight. We’ve been in for a decade and a half,” Blauvelt told the Cincinnati publication. “We don’t just rely on the government doing the right thing.”

According to the report, Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio could lose $10 million should the federal Medicaid cuts go into effect.

“I want to protect life at all costs,” Schmidt told The Cincinnati Enquirer. “I also understand that the voters wanted freedom of choice, but that doesn’t mean that the taxpayers have to pay for that procedure, just as taxpayers don’t have to pay for breast augmentation.”

Earlier this month, Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio said it would reduce its workforce, blaming the move on a loss of federal funding.

The feds cut off Title X and Medicaid funding through the reconciliation bill Congress recently passed, which bars health care providers that offer abortion services from participating in the Medicaid program. A federal judge has blocked the provision.

The organization previously said it had closed its Cleveland Health Center on Euclid Avenue in the city’s Midtown section, citing the loss of federal funds. According to a statement at the time, part of the reason for closure was that its Title X funds were frozen.

After Congress passed the reconciliation bill, Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio Region said it planned to close its centers in Springfield and Hamilton.

The two Republican lawmakers also previously teamed up on legislation to ban the use of state tax dollars to end Ohioans’ lives.

Specifically, the measure, House Bill 72, would eliminate the state’s death penalty, ban the use of state tax dollars for assisted suicide, and clarify the state’s ban on using tax dollars for abortion. The bill linked each issue with a non-severability clause.

“This ‘first of its kind’ legislation will protect state dollars, and more importantly, human life,” Schmidt said during the press conference, according to a January release.

“Decades of crusading against a culture of death have brought us here to affirm that protecting life must extend to every circumstance and stage of development,” Schmidt added. “To be consistent in our pro-life principles, we must oppose the state funding of abortion, the death penalty, and assisted suicide.”

The bill was referred to the Ohio House Judiciary Committee, where it had a first hearing. Legislative records show it hasn’t had any additional hearings yet.