COLUMBUS – This morning, Columbus City Council members and their allies in the abortion advocacy community announced advancement of legislation that they describe as:
- Providing taxpayer dollars directly to Planned Parenthood, the Women’s Alliance, and the Abortion Fund of Ohio
- De-prioritize enforcement of laws related to abortion, and
- Investigate and threaten pregnancy help centers.
Columbus City Council, along the mayor’s office, continue their bad leadership in pursuit of an extreme, out-of-touch, and highly partisan agenda that prioritizes abortion over the safety of women and the needs of thousands of central Ohio families and dedicates thousands of taxpayer dollars to fund the death and destruction of unborn children.
While violent crime escalates city-wide and our police force continues to dwindle, Columbus is announcing again today that it does not care about the health and safety of our community or the rule of law and will be targeting pregnancy centers that help thousands of pregnant women in our region every year. City Council announced in one breath it does not have the resources to dedicate to escalating community violence while also announcing it will giving more than a million dollars to fund abortion and groups like Planned Parenthood, the Abortion fund of Ohio, Pro-Choice Ohio and the Ohio Women’s Alliance.
So-called pro-choice groups should laud the work of pregnancy centers - places that work every day to tell women who think their best or only choice is abortion that there is help available. Pregnancy centers routinely provide free pregnancy tests, confirmation of pregnancy for programs like WIC, ultrasounds, referrals to low-and-no-cost medical care and social safety net services, parenting education, material aid, and emotional support. In many cases, this empowers women to choose life for their children and work to lift their families out of poverty and dependency. They are not there to trick or deceive women – women are smart, courageous, and resilient.
Please contrast this with what happens when women walk into an abortion clinic and are offered state mandated health information and an abortion. No other help, and no other choices. This is an offer of death and not the promise of freedom and equality that women deserve.
###