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CLEVELAND, Ohio – On Tuesday, a split federal appeals court approved an Ohio law that sought to fund Planned Parenthood and prevent the organization from receiving public funds to fund projects. non-abortion health care programs for the poor.
The US Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit decided 11-6 to reverse the decision of a federal judge in Cincinnati to declare the 2016 Act unconstitutional and prevent it from taking effect. Constituency Judge Jeffrey Sutton wrote for the majority that family planning affiliates in Ohio "do not have the right to conduct abortions according to due process".
The six dissident circuit judges described the majority's decision as "an infringement of a constitutional right".
(You can read the complete opinion and dissent right here or at the bottom of this story.)
The ruling, which allows Ohio to enforce the law, is hurting Planned Parenthood, which has 26 institutions in Ohio. Sites in Bedford Heights, Columbus and Cincinnati provide abortions, while others provide health services to women. The state is now free to enforce the law.
The law of Ohio, passed by a republican legislature and signed by the government of the time. John Kasich, prohibits the state from outsourcing health services to any entity practicing or promoting non-therapeutic abortions.
Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio and Planned Parenthood of Southwest Ohio Region, who do not use public money for abortion services, were sued a few months after Kasich signed the law banning to the organization to withdraw more than one million dollars of public funds.
Programs for which non-profit organizations have won contracts help provide health services to the poor at no cost to patients. Services include testing for HIV / AIDS and other STDs, smear screening and other cancers, child mortality prevention programs, and sexual health education programs.
US District Judge Michael Barrett blocked law enforcement in 2016 and declared it unconstitutional later that year. A panel of three judges of the Court of Appeal upheld Barrett's decision.
The 6th district, in its judgment, cited a 1992 US Supreme Court ruling stating that a Pennsylvania law requiring that women seeking abortion hear the details of the proceedings and wait for the minus 24 hours was constitutional. This decision also indicated that a provider does not share the same right to perform an abortion as a woman does to receive it.
"Medical centers do not have the constitutional right to offer abortions," wrote Sutton, appointed by George W. Bush. "Still, if we were to help the family planning diet today, we would actually say that's the case."
The majority rejected Planned Parenthood's arguments that the law would deprive Ohio women of their constitutional right to abort without undue hardship, claiming that these arguments were premature and that, according to what they saw, "the law will not create an undue burden for a woman's right to an abortion." "
Moreover, "his vow to continue to perform abortions nullifies any pre-execution action, and any speculation about what would happen if it changed his mind is just that," Sutton wrote.
The dissent, written by Helene White, Circuit Judge, wrote that the claimant's entitlement is a "derivative" of women's rights, which means that the claimant and women have the right to an abortion.
The push for Ohio legislation and similar laws across the country was fueled by secretly recorded videos released in 2015 that claimed to show Planned Parenthood employees in other states selling fetuses and parts of aborted fetuses. Planned Parenthood has denied any wrongdoing and an investigation by Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine found no evidence that Ohio clinics sold fetal tissue.
Conservative lawmakers were not deterred even after a Texas grand jury found in January that the abortion provider had committed no wrongdoing and had instead indicted the wrongdoers. anti-abortion activists who filmed the videos. These charges were subsequently dropped.
Ohio's President for Planned Parenthood, Iris Harvey, said in a press release that "Today's decision is a direct attack on access to health care for the most at-risk communities in the world. Ohio.
"It is shameful that politicians like Mike DeWine and John Kasich insist on preventing people from accessing reproductive health care and basic education in our state," Harvey said. The release says Planned Parenthood is exploring its legal options.
The Ohio Attorney General's Office, Dave Yost, did not immediately issue a statement.
Michael Gonidakis, chairman of the Ohio Right to Life anti-abortion group, said he is delighted with this decision.
"Thanks to this very encouraging decision, Ohio citizens do not have to worry about whether or not their taxes are going to abortions," said Gonidakis.
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