In July 2015, a split commission voted in favor of a more than $138,000 contract with Planned Parenthood. A few weeks later, County Commissioner Rick Lohnes wanted to end the contract in light of a state investigation but former County Commissioners John Detrick, a Republican, and David Herier, a Democrat, voted to keep it. The current contract expires on June 30.
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The contract pays for birth control, breast exams, and other health and educational services for Clark County residents. Abortions aren’t provided at the Clark County office.
South Charleston resident Greg Rice presented several reasons to commissioners Wednesday why Planned Parenthood should be defunded, including because it performs abortions nationwide. The group has asked commissioners multiple times to eliminate the organization’s funding, but it was their first time in front of the now all-Republican board with new Commissioners Lowell McGlothin and Melanie Flax-Wilt.
“If my only option is to fund an organization that kills babies, I think I would fall on my sword,” Rice said.
Planned Parenthood is the most trusted women’s reproductive health care provider in the country, representatives from the organization said.
“We are proud to provide sex education and birth control to thousands of people in southwest Ohio,” said Danielle Craig, director of communications for Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio Region, in an e-mail to the Springfield News-Sun. “We are also proud to provide abortion services to patients who have made the decision to end a pregnancy.”
It’s also possible that between now and when the current contract expires in June, there may be some state and federal action on the issue, Lohnes said.
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Abortion is a constitutionally protected, safe and legal medical procedure, Craig said, and no organization does more to prevent the need for it by offering advanced forms of birth control and educating local residents.
“We have the highest professional standards and our team works tirelessly to ensure that women and families are always able to access affordable, high-quality health care in a safe and caring environment,” she said.
The Ten Commandments provides a moral structure and compass to maintain a civilized society, Rice said. By not following those commandments, he said he believes it will lead society back to barbarianism, similar to ISIS.
“Planned Parenthood murders unborn children, bottom line,” Rice said.
Lohnes is unsure if a similar contract will come before commissioners again, he said.
“Odds are we’ll probably see something,” he said.
Planned Parenthood is unsure if it will apply for more grant money, Craig said, but will make that decision when the time comes. It can only submit bids based on what the county offers, she said.
There are thousands of federally qualified health centers in the country, including the Rocking Horse Community Health Center in Springfield, capable of providing primary health care to women, Rice said.
“(Planned Parenthood) is really not necessary for women’s health,” Rice said. “It’s adequately funded in other places.”
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The Springfield Planned Parenthood location on Bechtle Avenue is open three days per week, Springfield resident Josh Storts said. That’s not much time when there are other options, he said, such as the Rocking Horse Center or the Pregnancy Resource Clinic. He also suggested providing more funding to the Clark County Combined Health District, which recently increased women’s health services.
More than 400 patients under the age of 18 have been seen since November 2015 when Planned Parenthood started its Teen Clinic in Clark County, Craig said. More than 85 percent of those patients left their appointment with birth control, including 39 long-acting reversible contraceptives provided with parental permission. Some of those weren’t grant-funded, Craig said.
While the Planned Parenthood clinic doesn’t provide abortions in Springfield, Storts said it refers clients to other clinics in Dayton and Cincinnati.
“I’m just asking that we look and see what we’re doing with our taxpayer money and re-adjusting those funds to support our community, not kill our community,” he said.
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Clark County receives Temporary Assistance for Needy Families money from the state and federal governments for certain required services, such as women’s health, Lohnes said.
“It’s not our general fund budget,” he said. “It’s pass-through because we have to approve those contracts. We can also ask who else submitted proposals to provide those services.”
The number of teens giving birth in Clark County has been cut in half over the past five years, but it still ranks among the worst counties in Ohio for teen pregnancy rates.
If residents want different organizations to receive funding for women’s services, the organizations must provide a proposal to the Clark County Department of Jobs and Family Services, Flax-Wilt said.
She told residents to speak to the other organizations to make sure they’re responding to grant requests.
“It would be great if those options were available,” she said.
The discussion was educational for both sides and she wants organizations to be ready if another round of funding happens, Flax-Wilt said.
“We need to look at all the options,” she said when asked if Planned Parenthood should be defunded.
McGlothin is against abortion, he said, but wants to further examine the funding issue.
“I’m for having women taken care of,” McGlothin said. “If that’s what they’re actually doing, I don’t know where I would go at that point.”
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