Once again, Republican lawmakers passed a bill stripping Planned Parenthood of $1.3 million in state funding. Once again, the bill is not headed to Gov. John Kasich for his signature. The Senate passed the measure 22-8 along party lines Wednesday, marking the second time the chamber has passed essentially the same bill this session. The House has passed a version, too.

Once again, Republican lawmakers passed a bill stripping Planned Parenthood of $1.3 million in state funding. Once again, the bill is not headed to Gov. John Kasich for his signature.

The Senate passed the measure 22-8 along party lines on Wednesday, marking the second time the chamber has passed essentially the same bill this session. The House has passed a version, too.

The expectation is that someday the controversial defunding bill will make it to Kasich�s desk, and he is expected to sign it. But the House needs to take a final concurrence vote on the legislation, and Wednesday it chose to adjourn rather than wait for the Senate to finish passing the measure.

The House does not return until Feb. 9, which means both Iowa and New Hampshire will vote before Kasich � a presidential candidate � has the chance to sign it. And Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Wednesday urged him not to ever sign it.

�During his time in office, Gov. Kasich has repeatedly attacked reproductive health and rights, signing 16 laws that have made it increasingly difficult for women to access vital reproductive health care and significantly decreased the number of health centers that provide access to safe and legal abortion,� Clinton said. �It�s time for Gov. Kasich to put the health and well-being of his constituents ahead of his own political ambitions and veto this bill to defund Planned Parenthood � a trusted health-care provider and lifeline for thousands of women, men and young people in Ohio.�

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On Wednesday, the bill once again drew throngs of Planned Parenthood supporters who argued that the organization, with 28 clinics in Ohio, is one of the few places for low-income women to go for services including cancer screenings and contraceptives. They also noted that public dollars already cannot be used for abortions.

The bill also drew plenty of opponents of the organization who argued that there are other providers that do not perform abortions but also offer health-care services to women.

Three Planned Parenthood clinics in Ohio perform abortions � in Columbus, Cincinnati and Bedford Heights, outside Cleveland.

Planned Parenthood does good at times, but it also performs roughly one-third of the abortions that occur in Ohio, said Sen. Peggy Lehner, R-Kettering.

�For many Ohioans, that is deeply offensive and strikes at the very core of our beliefs,� she said.

Sen. Bill Coley, R-West Chester, said the bill would result in medical services being delivered more uniformly across the state. Most Planned Parenthood clinics, he said, are in major metropolitan areas.

�These problems are statewide, and therefore this bill redirects those funds to nearly 300 places across Ohio that provide free or low-cost care to women,� Coley said.

Critics say that list includes a number of entities that cannot provide women�s health-care services. Sens. Capri Cafaro, D-Hubbard, and Sandra Williams, D-Cleveland, questioned the capacity of federally qualified health-care centers or pregnancy crisis centers to handle Planned Parenthood clientele.

�I�m not really sure we have the capacity in those rural communities to pick up the slack, even if it goes to the county health department,� Cafaro said.

The Senate added an amendment that would add $250,000 for infant-mortality programs. The bill also would provide pregnant women presumptive eligibility for Medicaid services.

Claire Boettler, president of the Ohio Public Health Association, which represents those working in public health departments, universities and community-based organizations, urged �careful consideration� of whether entities that do not perform abortions have the capacity to provide care for thousands of women impacted by any funding restrictions.

�For example, women currently enrolled in the (Breast and Cervical Cancer Project) program may have a longer waiting period for an appointment that could result in later-stage diagnosis of breast or cervical cancer,� she wrote.

jsiegel@dispatch.com

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