Ohio lawmakers join on letter supporting Planned Parenthood, resisting funding cuts from Congress
More than a dozen members of Ohio's state legislature signed on to a letter with 500 other lawmakers across the nation asking Congress to push back against efforts to reduce or eliminate budget funding that would go to Planned Parenthood health clinics.
The letter, sent to U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate and House Minority Leaders Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, lays out support of Planned Parenthood specifically as a provider for 2 million patients per year of 'essential, preventive, reproductive health care,' according to the letter.
'We write in support of the millions of patients who rely on Planned Parenthood health centers,' the letter states. ''Defunding' Planned Parenthood blocks patients from getting the care they need and increases health care costs for everyone.'
The letter, organized by the State Innovation Exchange's Reproductive Freedom Leadership Council, comes as congressional budget reconciliation is ongoing, when U.S. legislators decide the funding priorities for the country, under which the Trump administration has attempted to push cuts to areas such as health care. This includes funding to Medicaid, the program that provides health care and services to low-income households, covering things like health screenings and vaccines.
U.S. House panel passes GOP plan that cuts Medicaid by $625B, adds work requirement
The state budget also stands to cut Medicaid funding, in a way that's triggered by changes to funding at the federal level. The House proposal of the state operating budget would eliminate Group VIII, the state's Medicaid expansion group, if federal funding for Medicaid dips below 90%. That would leave nearly 770,000 without medical coverage, forcing them to seek other options, like emergency rooms, for care, or even skip or delay care all together.
In the letter, the lawmakers state that a majority of Planned Parenthood patients 'rely on Medicaid and other federal and state programs to access care,' and that 64% of the organization's health centers are in rural of 'medically underserved' communities.
'Without Planned Parenthood, many patients would have nowhere to turn for care,' according to the legislators.
Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio has reported 43% of their patients are covered by Medicaid. Cuts are causing concern for many of the leaders of the organization's regional arms, who are stressing the effects that funding cuts could have not only on abortion services, but also infant mortality and maternal mortality programs, and health care overall.
'The reality is that stripping Medicaid reimbursements from providers who also provide abortion will do very little to stop abortion services,' said Nan Whaley, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio Region, in a statement on Tuesday. 'Medicaid does not fund abortion care. What it will impact is access to critical preventive services like birth control, cancer screenings, wellness exams, STI testing and treatment, and more, leaving millions of folks in need and at risk.'
Cuts on the federal side also include freezes to Title X funding, which is federal funding historically directed at clinics who 'have played a critical role in ensuring access to a broad range of family planning and preventive health services,' according to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.
The Trump administration has frozen $65 million in grants to 'family planning services' clinics in April as they look to broad cuts to federal spending overall.
In Ohio, Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio received $1.98 million in grants in 2024 from the Title X pot. The Ohio Department of Health also received grant funding, obtaining $7 million that year. The department received similar amounts in the previous two years of grant funding as well.
The state legislators who signed on to the letter were:
Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio, D-Lakewood
House Minority Leader Allison Russo, D-Upper Arlington
Sen. Willis Blackshear, Jr., D-Dayton
Rep. Juanita Brent, D-Cleveland
Rep. Darnell Brewer, D-Cleveland
Rep. Beryl Brown Piccolantonio, D-Gahanna
Rep. Karen Brownlee, D-Symmes Twp.
Rep. Christine Cockley, D-Columbus
Sen. Bill DeMora, D-Columbus
Rep. Michele Grim, D-Toledo
Sen. Paula Hicks-Hudson, D-Toledo
Rep. Dontavius Jarrells, D-Columbus
Rep. Lauren McNally, D-Youngstown
Rep. Tristan Rader, D-Lakewood
Sen. Kent Smith, D-Euclid
Rep. Anita Somani, D-Dublin
Rep. Eric Synenberg, D-Beachwood
Sen. Casey Weinstein, D-Hudson
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