Ohio’s New Budget Attacks Abortion and Sex Ed
Gov. Mike DeWine of Ohio signed a state budget that gives $6 million to anti-choice pregnancy centers and targets the state's abortion clinics.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed a state budget filled with attacks on reproductive rights, including a provision giving $6 million to deceptive anti-abortion “crisis pregnancy centers” and an amendment that could force clinics in the state to close.
He signed the two-year budget late Wednesday night, keeping amendments that:
- target physicians providing reproductive care
- target schools teaching comprehensive sex education
- permit physicians, hospitals, and insurance companies to deny care, including contraception, fertility treatments, gender-affirming care, and abortion care
🧵 THREAD: Ohio Republicans are using the state’s budget to attack your health care access & sex education.
They want our tax dollars to further their personal agenda rather than benefit Ohioans. 1/ pic.twitter.com/tAReWxQFud
— Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio (@PPAOhio) June 16, 2021
“This basically put into statute and codified what was happening anyway,” DeWine said about the “medical conscience” clause that allows providers to deny care, according to the Columbus Dispatch.
The budget also gives $6 million in taxpayer funding to so-called crisis pregnancy centers. Separate language in the budget has the potential to force two of the state’s eight abortion clinics to close. According to the Dispatch:
Both [clinics] operate on variances—an exception to state law that requires abortion clinics have transfer agreements with local, private hospitals in case of an emergency. Changes in the budget would prevent doctors on those variances from working farther than 25 miles from the clinic or teaching at a public hospital.
These moves aren’t really a surprise. Despite DeWine being touted as a “good” Republican, abortion rights advocates see him for who he is: a hardcore conservative with extremist views on abortion.
“Ohio needs more access to health care and education, not less—and we will continue to do everything we can to ensure Ohioans are receiving the high quality care and information they deserve,” Kersha Deibel, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio, said.
This post was adapted from a Twitter thread.