“The videos were ugly,” Lohnes said.
“… I do know that federal money is not to be used for abortion. We asked that question, I did, when we passed this. Now, with this other issue, I felt the need to say, ‘Hey, maybe we should hold off on this contract’ since the attorney general for the state of Ohio is investigating that issue, not the abortion issue.”
But Commissioners John Detrick and David Herier voted against Lohnes’ proposal, citing concerns about the validity of the anti-abortion group’s report and saying that local funding is only for education and teen pregnancy prevention efforts, not abortion.
“I think that the services that we’re funding are too important to put on delay, and also the news accounts come from very sketchy places,” Herier said.
Detrick said based on the media reports he’s read, it appears that Planned Parenthood was “set up.”
Detrick opposed delaying or terminating the contract “based on my reading of what I felt were open newspapers like the Wall Street Journal,” Detrick said.
Lohnes said he’s followed newspaper and television accounts of what occurred, too, but felt compelled to act after the Ohio Attorney General announced plans to investigate the agency.
DeWine said his charitable-law section is reviewing activities of three Ohio locations of the abortion and reproductive health services provider.
DeWine’s announcements followed orders made by the governors of Georgia and Indiana to investigate the agency, since the commercial sale of fetal tissue is outlawed. Three Republican-led congressional committees are also investigating.
Planned Parenthood is considered a registered nonprofit corporation that has an obligation to respond to attorney general investigations, DeWine said.
DeWine said if money is generated from the practice, it may be illegal.
Planned Parenthood said it legally helps women desiring to make not-for-profit donations of their fetus’ organs for scientific research. A spokeswoman said none has occurred in Ohio, where tissue donations are illegal.
Lohnes described the video as repulsive and said he wants to ensure that the agency is following the law in its use of government funding.
“… I don’t want to overreact, but I just felt the need to do something,” Lohnes said.
Lohnes said the county has included safeguards in the Planned Parenthood contract to ensure local funding goes toward education and prevention programs.
He said he will monitor the state investigation and would raise concerns about local funding for Planned Parenthood again if the attorney general finds the agency has violated the law.
“The attorney general is investigating, so why would we not do something,” Lohnes said. “In three or four weeks, if the attorney general says Planned Parenthood organizations in Ohio are violating law or doing something terrible, then I will raise my voice again and say let’s cancel that contract.”
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