Despite the furor over Planned Parenthood on Capitol Hill—one that helped to oust a House Speaker, no less—House Republicans have made no progress in their efforts to defund the organization. Outside Washington, however, GOP-controlled states continue to invent new ways to undermine the women's health provider—and they are making headway.

Ohio lawmakers, notably, are breaking new ground by going beyond the traditional fights over family-planning services. The state's Republican-controlled legislature is fast-tracking a new bill that aims to cut off federal funds Planned Parenthood receives—and which are distributed as grants by the state—for a range of health services including HIV testing, infant mortality reduction, rape-prevention classes, and breast and cervical cancer screening. Such programs are less frequently associated with Planned Parenthood, but have now become ripe targets for anti-abortion activists. “For a long time, when somebody said defunding Planned Parenthood, it meant cutting family planning—Title X money," says Kellie Copeland, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice of Ohio. "Now it means any dollars going to Planned Parenthood, be it for sexually transmitted infections, sex education. It’s much broader."

The dollar amounts are relatively small: Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio estimates that its clinics stand to lose between $1 million and $7 million, depending on the final language and implementation of the bill. But the measure would open up a new frontier in Ohio conservatives' ongoing battle against abortion providers, cutting off yet another stream of funding and clientele at a time when new restrictions are already forcing clinics in the state to close their doors. “Ohio would be one of the first to move forward on that train,” says Katherine Franklin, director of communications for Ohio Right to Life.

Anti-abortion advocates in Ohio have already banned Planned Parenthood from receiving state funds for family planning; the latest bill is a way to get at federal funds administered by the state government. The ultimate goal is to shut down Planned Parenthood entirely by cutting off public money, following Texas’s lead in gutting access to reproductive health care. In Ohio, Franklin says, “We’re trying to pursue a different kind of incremental approach."



Anti-abortion groups had been making the case for the bill since the beginning of the year, but the legislative push began in earnest in July, after anti-abortion activists first released undercover videos accusing Planned Parenthood of illegally profiting from the sale of fetal tissue. The measure is now going through hearings in both the state Senate and House of Representatives. Supporters and opponents alike expect it to be voted out of committee, pass the General Assembly, and hit Governor John Kasich's desk by Thanksgiving. A Kasich spokesman said the governor would not comment on pending legislation, but he’s widely expected to sign the bill if it passes. Despite pitching himself as a moderate in his presidential campaign, and slamming House Republicans for threatnening the shut down the government over Planned Parenthood, Kasich has green-lit every significant restriction on abortion and family planning since he took office in 2011.