Boyce calls on Kasich to veto Planned Parenthood defund bill
State Rep. Kevin L. Boyce (D-Columbus) today asked Gov. John Kasich to veto recently passed House Bill 294, legislation that seeks to defund Planned Parenthood in Ohio.
“This bill takes away from Planned Parenthood, a valued community healthcare resource, $1.3 million dollars in federal funding; these are monies that go toward health screenings including HIV/AIDS testing and cervical cancer screenings, infant mortality prevention programs and domestic violence education programming, not abortions.” Boyce wrote in the letter.
The GOP-controlled House's passage of House Bill 294 comes amidst nationwide Republican push to defund Planned Parenthood after heavily edited, politically motivated videos surfaced appearing to show the organization discussing the sale of fetal tissue for research. The videos have since been widely discredited, and two Republican led investigations into Ohio's Planned Parenthood also showed the organization's activities are only in furtherance of Ohio women's access to comprehensive healthcare.
The Columbus Public Health Department testified in opposition of the bill, saying the legislation’s broad language threatens local health departments’ ability to provide access to critically reproductive health care services at time when “our communities are facing long wait times to be seen for gynecological services, increased rates of syphilis and chlamydia, and a growing demand to adequately address the racial disparities and health risks associated with high infant mortality across the state.”
In Ohio, Planned Parenthood provides comprehensive healthcare to some 80,000 patients each year. By defunding Planned Parenthood, the state is defunding sex education programs, HIV/AIDS testing procedures, infant mortality prevention programs, breast and cervical cancer screenings and domestic violence education programs.
“Research reveals that when access to comprehensive, cost-effective preventative and reproductive healthcare is restricted the number of unplanned pregnancies surge, especially among economically disadvantaged women who rely on the services and programs of providers like Planned Parenthood for access to contraceptives and family planning counsel,” Boyce continues in the letter. “I ask you to consider the cost of allowing a misguided and misinformed piece of legislation to become law and urge you to veto H.B. 294.”
You can view the letter in its entirety below:
Governor Kasich,
Wednesday, February 10, 2016, the Ohio House of Representatives concurred on Senate amendments to H.B. 294, a bill that sought to “defund planned parenthood”. I write to express my disappointment in the passage of the bill and urge your veto of H.B. 294. This bill takes away from Planned Parenthood, a valued community healthcare resource, $1.3 million dollars in federal funding; these are monies that go toward health screenings including HIV/AIDS testing and cervical cancer screenings, infant mortality prevention programs and domestic violence education programming, not abortions.
If signed, H.B. 294 will interfere with existing contracts between healthcare facilities and hospitals or insurance providers in a harmful way; thus eliminating options for cost-effective preventative healthcare for tens of thousands of low-income Ohioans. Research reveals that when access to comprehensive, cost-effective preventative and reproductive healthcare is restricted the number of unplanned pregnancies surge, especially among economically disadvantaged women who rely on the services and programs of providers like Planned Parenthood for access to contraceptives and family planning counsel. I ask you to consider the cost of allowing a misguided and misinformed piece of legislation to become law and urge you to veto H.B. 294.
Respectfully,
Kevin L. Boyce
House District 25
Ohio House of Representatives