Planned Parenthood Targets Crisis Pregnancy Centers After They Receive $7 Million Boost in Ohio Budget

 

Crisis pregnancy centers in Ohio are set to receive $7.5 million in funding over the next two fiscal years under Ohio’s new state budget, and Planned Parenthood isn’t pleased.

During Wednesday’s House floor debate on the budget, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio sent out a number of tweets attacking crisis pregnancy centers.

“It’s time we call a spade a spade. So-called crisis pregnancy centers are fake women’s clinics. Extremist politicians want to reroute funding that is supposed to help low-income folks and send it [to] these crooked clinics,” the group claimed on Twitter.

“Precious taxpayer resources shouldn’t be funding clinics that intentionally deceive and lie to people that are in need of timely, comprehensive reproductive health care,” they added.

NARAL Pro-Choice of Ohio noted that Rep. Candice Keller (R-Middletown) serves as the executive director of the Community Pregnancy Center in Middletown and claimed “her agency stands to financially benefit from the Ohio budget allocation for the Parenting and Pregnancy Program.”

“Will Rep. Keller either abstain from voting on the state budget bill that could benefit her personally, or will she publicly pledge that her agency will neither seek nor accept state funds?” NARAL Pro-Choice of Ohio Executive Director Kellie Copeland said in a statement.

“This is a clear conflict of interest,” Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio wrote on Twitter. “At the end of the day, so-called Crisis Pregnancy Centers are fake women’s clinics and the people who run them like extremist Rep. Candice Keller should not receive funding from the state.”

House Minority Leader Emilia Sykes (D-Akron) sent a letter to Gov. Mike DeWine Wednesday after the House passed the state budget bill. She requested that DeWine veto a number of provisions, including the “funding earmark in each fiscal year to the Ohio Parenting and Pregnancy Program.”

“These vetoes will strengthen our communities, ensuring that Ohioans can live the American dream right here at home. We believe that if you work hard and play by the rules, you should be able to get ahead. As it stands now, these provisions prevent the bill from creating a responsible framework for the future for all Ohioans,” Sykes wrote in her letter.

Before signing the budget, DeWine issued 25 line-item vetoes, but kept the funding for crisis pregnancy centers in place.

“I am proud that this budget will significantly impact the lives of Ohioans through its unprecedented investments,” DeWine said of the budget bill. “It lays the groundwork for a better Ohio for generations to come.”

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Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of Battleground State News, The Ohio Star, and The Minnesota Sun. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Ohio Abortion Protesters” by Becker1999. CC BY 2.0.

 

 

 

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