· April 18, 2012

News Release: GOP To Ohio Women: ‘Drop Dead’

For Immediate Release: April 18, 2012 Contact:   Dale Butland, 614-783-5833

GOP To Ohio Women:  ‘Drop Dead’

IO Says Assault on Planned Parenthood Would Block Funding for Cancer Screenings, Infertility Prevention, and Violence Against Women Programs

Columbus: Innovation Ohio, a progressive think tank headquartered in Columbus, today blasted Republican members of the Ohio House for advancing a Planned Parenthood defunding measure that “goes far beyond abortion prevention and ranks among the most radical attacks on women’s health and well-being anywhere in the nation.” The proposed amendment is now part of Substitute House Bill 487 (Sub HB 487), the state’s budget correction bill. Supporters say its purpose is to keep Planned Parenthood from using federal funds to provide abortion services. But under law in effect since the mid-1970s, Planned Parenthood is already prohibited from using federal money for abortions. Moreover, Sub HB 487 goes much further than other bills that were previously introduced (see, for example, legislation introduced by Rep. Roegner and Sen. Jordan). 487 would, for example, bar Planned Parenthood from receiving funds for a number of other programs, including breast and cervical cancer screening, the Violence Against Women Act, infertility prevention and minority HIV/AIDS programs. Said IO President Janetta King: “Just a few weeks after coast-to-coast outrage forced the Susan G. Komen foundation to reverse its assault on Planned Parenthood, Ohio House Republicans have thumbed their collective nose and demonstrated that they don’t much care what women think or need, even if it concerns cancer screenings, infertility, or violence prevention. “And just 5 days after Ann Romney reminded the country that ‘we need to respect the choices women make,’ Ohio House Republicans are effectively telling women to sit down and shut up. “Whether it’s the Republicans’ embrace of the so-called ‘Personhood’ amendment that would outlaw many widely used forms of birth control, their laws to criminalize abortion just a few weeks after the onset of an unwanted or life-threatening pregnancy, or their unrelenting attempts to defund and destroy Planned Parenthood, Ohio women have had enough of politicians who think they know best and have the right to make our choices for us. “It’s time for Governor Kasich to tell Ohio women where he stands.  If Sub HB 487 lands on his desk, will he or won’t he sign it?  And when Mitt Romney comes to Ohio later this week, he too should take a position.  Does he support this amendment or does he ‘respect the choices women make?’  

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