Federal Appeals Court Forces State to Fund Planned Parenthood

. . .On Wednesday, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a previous ruling blocking that law, mandating that Ohio taxpayers fund abortions . . .

U.S. Circuit Judge Helene White said the two Planned Parenthood affiliates had a right to taxpayer dollars because abortion was a “protected activity” outside of the government-funded programs . . .

Reuters reports that “White said the law had violated Planned Parenthood’s due process rights by requiring a health care provider surrender its right to provide legal abortions as a condition of participating in programs that have nothing to do with abortion.” More of the ruling written by White below:

The issue in the instant challenge is … whether Ohio may require a provider to surrender the right to provide safe and lawful abortions on its own “time and dime” as a condition of participating in government programs that have nothing to do with abortion.

Thus, as a condition of retaining access to abortion free of undue governmental interference, Ohio women must forego the extensive and subsidized access to health services under federal programs that they previously enjoyed. Although Ohio women do not have a right to the programs, they do have a right not to have their access to important health services curtailed because their major abortion providers opted to protect women’s abortion rights rather than yield to unconstitutional conditions.

(Read more from “Federal Appeals Court Forces State to Fund Planned Parenthood” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.