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March 25, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – The Ohio Department of Health (ODH) has notified Planned Parenthood facilities across the state that their state funding is coming to an end. The decision comes after a federal appeals court determined the state can withhold taxpayer dollars from the abortion giant.

Last April, a three-judge panel of the 6th Circuit ruled that the state could not forbid the distribution of federal health subsidies to any entity that commits or promotes elective abortions, a move which would have defunded 28 Planned Parenthood facilities and deprived Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio and Southwest Ohio of almost $1.5 million.

Judge Helene White claimed at the time that Planned Parenthood had a “due process right” to commit abortions, and that making tax dollars contingent on not doing so violated its “right not to be penalized in the administration of government programs based on protected activity outside the programs.”

The full 6th Circuit disagreed earlier this month, ruling that an (alleged) constitutional right for women to obtain abortions doesn’t automatically entail a constitutional right for abortionists to commit them. The 6th Circuit's ruling affects six state public health programs in Ohio, but doesn't touch Medicaid.

Accordingly, ODH sent funding termination notices to abortion centers last Thursday, Cleveland.com reports. Planned Parenthood previously received state funding under the auspices of services related to sexual assault, breast and cervical cancer, sexually transmitted diseases, and infant mortality.

Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio CEO Iris Harvey responded to the cuts by calling Republican Gov. Mike DeWine “heartless” in a tweet and releasing a statement accusing Ohio of “put[ting] politics over people, putting them at greater risk.”

ODH Director Amy Acton addressed such concerns in her response to Planned Parenthood’s motion to stay the 6th Circuit’s decision, assuring Ohioans that the department would arrange for the “orderly transition of services to new subrecipients or contractors not affected by” the new law, “thus ensuring continuity of services to Ohioans” by redirecting tax dollars from abortionists to providers not involved in abortion.

According to the pro-life Charlotte Lozier Institute, as of 2015, Federally-Qualified Health Centers and Rural Health Clinics outnumbered Planned Parenthood locations 280 to 28. Legitimate women’s healthcare providers similarly outnumber Planned Parenthoods across the United States.