Source: Legal Insurrection Following the truly horrific 2015 revelations that Planned Parenthood was harvesting baby parts and haggling over baby brains for profit, Republican governors across the nation moved to ban taxpayer funding to Planned Parenthood. In February 2016, then-Ohio Governor John Kasich signed into law a bill that restricted state funding to Planned Parenthood. While a lower court had previously blocked the state from stripping $1.5 million in funding from the nation”s top abortion provider, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that Ohio can indeed defund Planned Parenthood. The Hill reports: A federal appeals court on Tuesday ruled that Ohio is able to defund Planned Parenthood clinics because they perform abortions. Eleven judges on the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that an Ohio law prohibiting state health department funding from going to any provider who offers “non-therapeutic abortions” does not violate the Constitution, “because the affiliates do not have a due process right to perform abortions.” The court ruled 11-6 that the ban does not pose an undue burden on a woman”s right to an abortion. Women have a right to an abortion, but Planned Parenthood affiliates do not have a constitutional right to perform abortions, the court said. “Private organizations do not have a constitutional right to obtain governmental funding to support their activities,” Judge Jeffrey Sutton wrote for the majority. “The State also may choose not to subsidize constitutionally protected activities. Just as it has no obligation to provide a platform for an individual”s free speech it has no obligation to pay for a woman”s abortion.” If anyone has any remaining doubt about President”s Trump”s judicial legacy, this ruling may help bolster their confidence in this very important aspect of his presidency. Image Credit: Scott Olson/Getty 48 views
