Guest columnist Michael Gonidakis serves as the President of Ohio Right to Life. He writes in opposition to allowing abortion clinic to transfer patients to public hospitals.
As a Midwestern state with Midwestern values, Ohio falls in line with the results of the most recent CNN National Poll which concluded that a majority of Americans oppose taxpayer funding for abortion. A rather small minority supports it. Furthermore, 58 percent of Americans, according to CNN, believe that abortion should be illegal in most or all circumstances.
Armed with the support of a vast majority of Americans, Ohio Right to Life crafted a legislative strategy to identify opportunities to protect women and their unborn children while working within the legal confines of Roe v. Wade. Sadly, the Roe decision created a right to abortion, but that so-called right did not come unrestricted. The Supreme Court granted each state the right to regulate the abortion industry, as well.
Ohio law strictly prohibits taxpayer funding of abortion. Furthermore, legal safeguards protect health care professionals from being forced to participate in abortions, a clear protection of their First Amendment rights.
These facts clearly demonstrate that allowing a 100 percent taxpayer funded hospital to support an abortion facility violates both public opinion and public policy.
State law requires ambulatory surgical facilities, such as abortion clinics, to have an agreement with a hospital to cover the transfer of patients who need emergency treatment in the event of complications. Previously, abortion facilities could obtain these agreements with taxpayer-funded hospitals, thereby forcing millions of pro-life taxpaying Ohioans to prop up the abortion industry with their tax dollars. Prohibiting public hospitals from entering into transfer agreements with abortion facilities was a logical next step to ensure the protection of our conscience rights and adherence to Ohio law.
What abortion advocates fail to mention in their opposition to such laws is the fact that private hospitals can (and do) enter into transfer agreements with abortion facilities. Public hospitals were not their only option. However, in many instances, all of the private hospitals in a given region refused to enter into the agreement with the abortion provider. What conclusions should we draw regarding the abortion industry when their medical colleagues refuse to do business with them?
The abortion industry claims that "women's health" is paramount, yet they continue to advocate for a lesser standard of care than those required of other licensed providers in Ohio. Make no mistake: Ohio law affords no loopholes for abortion facilities. It should come as no surprise that several abortion facilities in Ohio have closed recently due to serious health and safety violations. Planned Parenthood of Bedford Heights was just fined $25,000 for unsanitary conditions. According to state investigative reports, rusty and moldy conditions were discovered in another abortion facility in Toledo.
Are abortion advocates concerned at all about these unsafe conditions throughout Ohio? What are their limits? Do they want any regulations? I am afraid that if they have it their way, Ohio will face an unregulated, taxpayer-funded abortion industry. Planned Parenthood and their allies bristle at any health and safety regulations, yet we can rest assured that their objections are in the vast minority.