Biennium Budget May Have Opened the Door to Taxpayer Funding of Planned Parenthood in the Schools

 

COLUMBUS, Ohio – In 2015 the Legislature passed House Bill 294. Lead by former State Representatives Margy Conditt (R- Liberty Township) and Bill Patmon (D-Cleveland), it was lauded as the bill that defunded Planned Parenthood in Ohio. A court challenge followed soon thereafter.

In March of this year, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld House Bill 294, allowing the state to cut funding to the abortion-providing organization. However, passage of the state’s biennium budget earlier this month could return millions of those recently prohibited taxpayer dollars back into Planned Parenthood’s (PP) pockets through “Student Wellness and Success” funding.

The analysis of the law created by House Bill 294 states, “Requires the Ohio Department of Health to ensure that the funding and materials that are received or used in certain programs are not used to do any of the following:

• Perform nontherapeutic abortions;
• Promote nontherapeutic abortions;
• Contract with an entity that performs or promotes nontherapeutic abortions;
• Become or continue to be an affiliate of any entity that performs or promotes nontherapeutic abortions.”

House Bill 166, the budget, provides $675 million for “Student Success and Wellness.” The policy could allow local school districts to contract with Planned Parenthood to provide services that are specified in the bill. Some of those services include mental health, community liaisons, physical healthcare and family engagement and support. Planned Parenthood claims to provide help for each of these areas.

According to the Legislative Service Commission, the research and legislation writing arm of the the Ohio General Assembly, “…the spending requirements [for the $675 million] do not prohibit certain organizations from receiving this funding. As a result, it appears that any organization, including Planned Parenthood, could provide services for school districts or schools that are financed with student wellness and success funding and enhancement funding as long as the spending requirements are satisfied.”

What kind of care and services might Planned Parenthood provide to school age children? Last year the Washington Times wrote about PP’s new market: transgender hormone therapy. While Ohio’s Planned Parenthood clinics do not appear to offer these services yet, their clinics in 28 other states do. And their website suggests,

If your closest Planned Parenthood health center doesn’t offer hormone treatments and you want them to, tell them. Let them know that you’re interested in this service and what it would mean for you.”

Planned Parenthood also offers graphic sex ed curriculum for children, heterosexual and LGBTQ. They even have a new app just for kids called Roo where children can get questions about sex answered by a chatbot.

 

Ohio Value Voters found ample evidence that these pornographic programs are currently being taught to school children. President John Stover told The Ohio Star, “We are highly concerned that the Student Success and Wellness funding program will expand the use of Planned Parenthood’s Comprehensive Sexuality Education curricula in Ohio schools. Any program presenting sexuality education must be aligned with the requirements of Ohio Revised Code 3313.6011.”

He added, “Based upon the two-year investigation of Ohio Value Voters, Planned Parenthood and their affiliates have infiltrated schools in Ohio with sexually obscene material that is not suitable for children. Ohioans are not in support of Planned Parenthood receiving tax dollars to indoctrinate school children about abortion, gender confusion, or the many other harmful elements of their curriculum.”

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Beth Lear is a reporter at The Ohio Star.  Follow Beth on Twitter.  Email tips to [email protected].