Ohio Senate passes budget bill with anti-abortion measures

Source: Reuters

Ohio Senate passes budget bill with anti-abortion measures
Source: Reuters - Thu, 6 Jun 2013 08:34 PM
By Jo Ingles

COLUMBUS, Ohio, June 6 (Reuters) - The Ohio Senate on Thursday passed a $61.7 billion two-year budget which includes controversial amendments that would limit federal funds for Planned Parenthood and ban public hospitals from having patient transfer agreements with abortion clinics.

The state's budget bill, which passed by a vote of 23-10, will go before the House next Wednesday.

The amendment changes the way the state allocates money it receives from the federal government, opting to fund some crisis pregnancy centers - which counsel against abortions - before funding Planned Parenthood, the country's largest provider of abortions.

Ohio Right to Life, an anti-abortion group, has been pushing for the amendment as it seeks to have Planned Parenthood defunded.

"This proposal will wreak havoc on tens of thousands of patients that rely on these facilities, and could result in 11 counties losing access to subsidized family planning services entirely," said Kellie Copeland, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio.



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