Columbus, Ohio, Jul 3, 2013 / 01:00 am
Ohio governor John Kasich signed a state budget on Sunday which local pro-life backers say is the "most pro-life in history."
"Ohio Right to Life applauds Governor Kasich and the vast pro-life majorities in the House and Senate," Mike Gonidakis, the organization's president, said June 30.
"Low-income pregnant women will now receive greater care and their unborn child will have a much greater opportunity to be born healthy. It took great compassion and courage for our Governor and pro-life legislature to stand up to the abortion industry that blatantly pressured them."
The budget creates new funding for pregnancy centers by shifting about $1.4 million in federal family planning funds away from Planned Parenthood.
Ohio's new budget also adds an informed consent requirement, ensuring that a woman considering abortion will have an ultrasound and be informed if a heartbeat is detected. The physician must tell the woman the chances that her baby will live to delivery, reported the Columbus Dispatch.
Furthermore, the budget bars abortion clinics from forming patient transfer agreements with public hospitals, and strengthens other clinic regulations.
Three Ohio abortion clinics could close because of the measures, WLWT News reports.
The budget is part of a growing trend of pro-life legislation at the state level amid continued controversy over Planned Parenthood's use of taxpayer money.
Gonidakis said that Ohio voters "elected a pro-life legislature as well as a pro-life governor."
"We should all take great comfort in knowing that the majority of our state leaders truly value precious human life as well as higher standards for women's health care."
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