At the end of October, the last clinic where abortions are performed in Cincinnati, a Planned Parenthood clinic in Mount Auburn, was cited by the Ohio health department and could close in the near future.
Last year, a law was passed in the state of Ohio that requires clinics that perform abortions to have agreements with private hospitals to transfer patients in case of emergencies. Allegedly, the Mount Auburn clinic did not meet the requirements of this law.
Regardless of one’s opinion on abortion, the way that the media has portrayed this situation is deplorable.
Planned Parenthood is not just an “abortion clinic,” as stated in the headline of the story in the Cincinnati Enquirer (http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/politics/2014/10/24/cincinnati-planned-parenthood-abortion-clinic-transfer-agreement/17821871/).
Planned Parenthood clinics provide many services conducive to women’s health, including testing and treatment for STDs and ovarian, breast and cervical cancer screenings.
It is unacceptable to infer that a variety of services for women’s health can be reduced to abortions, which only account for 3 percent of the services that Planned Parenthood provides.
It is also unacceptable to overlookthis story’s implications regarding the importance of local politics.
In the past, clinics could remain in compliance with the law requiring agreements with private hospitals by making agreements with individual physicians. Now, state officials are changing the game. Why is it that this particular requirement is just now being enforced, and is it being done with a particular agenda in mind?
We cannot fully account for that, but we know this: if you didn’t think voting for judges and governors was important, we’ve found a reason for you. We have the power to elect representatives who enforce laws fairly and consistently. But it seems it’s too late for that now