MANSFIELD, Ohio – The Planned Parenthood Federation of America recently came under fire when videos were released that allegedly show officials of the organization discussing the illegal sale of fetal tissue.
The controversy that arose provided more than enough kindling to re-ignite a longstanding debate about abortion and its practices through the country. It even touched Richland County when nearly 100 pro-life supporters gathered for a prayer vigil Aug. 22 in the parking lot next to Mansfield’s Planned Parenthood on Park Avenue West.
The legitimacy of those videos, which were released by an anti-abortion group called the Center for Medical Progress, remains in question, as does the central topic: whether or not Planned Parenthood broke any laws.
Several states have conducted investigations into whether Planned Parenthood committed unlawful activities – particularly pertaining to those laid out in sections of Title 42 of the United States Code, which deals with public health, social welfare, and civil rights.
To date, none of the investigations have revealed evidence of violations. A statement issued by Eric Ferrero, vice president of Communications, Planned Parenthood Federation of America said the “claims fall apart under closer examination.”
While Title 42 states that buying and selling fetal tissue for profit is illegal, it doesn’t prevent fetal tissue from being donated. Likewise, the code also states that research on human fetal tissue, whether obtained through a “spontaneous or induced abortion” or stillbirth, may be conducted and supported.
Ohio, in part, prohibits the practice – banning not only the sale but also the research of fetal tissue obtained through abortion. Studies can, however, be done on donated fetal tissue obtained through stillbirth.
The Ohio revised code states, “No person shall experiment upon or sell the product of human conception which is aborted.”
Stephanie Kight, president and chief executive officer of Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio as well as the Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio, said none of the Planned Parenthood locations in Ohio allow patients to donate fetal tissue.
“We’re already in a really hostile state with women’s health – we’re one of the worst states in the country for women’s health,” she said. “We have never done fetal tissue donations in Ohio, and we don’t have any plans to start doing it.”
According to its website, Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio maintains 20 health centers throughout north, east, and central Ohio. Its headquarters are based out of Columbus.
In light of the recent controversy, Kight said two pieces of legislature have been introduced to the state government, both of which would target the Planned Parenthood’s funding, though the organization is not explicitly named.
“If either one of these bills were to pass, it would be devastating to women in Ohio because it would reduce access,” Kight said. “Mansfield, for example, is a medically under-served area – there aren’t enough Medicaid providers in the area in which Mansfield sits to take care of the people who are there.”
She added that one in five women in the state, as well as the nation, have used services offered at Planned Parenthood in their lifetime, which is the equivalent to 22 percent of the female population.
One of the proposed bills is House Bill 294, which was introduced by Ohio Representatives Bill Patmon (D-Cleveland) and Margaret Conditt (R-Liberty Township).
As introduced, HB 294 states, “To enact section 3701.034 of the Revised Code to require the Department of Health to ensure that state funds and certain federal funds are not used either to perform or promote elective abortions, or to contract or affiliate with any entity that performs or promotes elective abortions.”
“What you need your legislatures to be focusing on is how to get more health care providers,” Kight said. “So rather than attacking Planned Parenthood and trying to eliminate us as a provider of choice and our programs, they should be figuring out how they can provide more care.”
There are eight abortion clinics in Ohio – three of which are run by Planned Parenthood. Mansfield’s location, which falls under the umbrella of Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio, does not provide abortion services.
“What we provide at our Mansfield Health Center is well-woman care, cancer screenings, STI (sexually transmitted infection) testing and treatment – that’s what we provide every day,” Kight said.
According to its website, Mansfield Health Center also offers birth control; general health care; men’s and women’s health care; pregnancy testing; lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender services; emergency contraception, and abortion referrals.
On a national scale, abortion accounted for 3 percent of all Planned Parenthood’s services, according to its 2013-14 annual report. That report also shows the organization receives more than 40 percent of its funding from the government – around $528 million.
“The funding that goes to take care of the health care services, that is funding that is really designed for the people,” Kight said. “We get it because you came to us as a health care provider – it is public insurance.”
Ohio Senator Frank LaRose (R-Copley) also recently introduced Ohio Senate Bill 203, which proposes that the exchange of money for storage or services related to the “product of human conception” be banned.
Fetal tissue research dates back as far as the 1930s and has been used to help develop many vaccines, including polio, for which the 1954 Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded. Today, research is used in a variety of settings, some of which include the study of AIDS and Parkinson’s Disease.
An article published Aug. 10 by the New England Journal of Medicine describes why scientists prefer the use of fetal tissue to non-fetal tissue. The article states, “… fetal cells can rapidly divide, grow, and adapt to new environments in ways that make them the gold standard for some disease research. And in other research areas, we don’t yet know if there is anything that could substitute. Fetal tissue research has already led to investigational therapy for end-stage breast cancer and advances against cardiac disease, and transplantation research is actively being pursued for diabetes (using fetal pancreatic islet cells), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (using neural fetal stem cells injected into the spine), and in a major European initiative, Parkinson’s disease (using fetal dopamine cells).”
A lengthy Aug. 27 letter provided to congressional leadership by Cecile Richards, president Planned Parenthood Federation of America, reviews federal law regarding fetal tissue research and describes Planned Parenthood’s involvement in that research.
“We have never done fetal tissue donations in Ohio, and we don’t have any plans to start doing it,” said Stephanie Kight, president and chief executive officer of Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio.
The Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit that conducts research and provides information on sexual activity, contraception, abortion, and childbearing, reported that of the 2,222,362 pregnancies in Ohio in 2011, 18 percent resulted in abortion – a rate of 12.9 legal abortions per 1,000 women between the ages of 15 and 44.
The institute also showed that Ohio put the following abortion restrictions in effect July 1:
• A woman must receive state-directed counseling that includes information designed to discourage her from having an abortion and then wait 24 hours before the procedure is provided. Counseling must be provided in person and must take place before the waiting period begins, thereby necessitating two separate trips to the facility.
• Health plans that will be offered in the state’s health exchange under the Affordable Care Act can only cover abortion in cases when the woman’s life is endangered, rape or incest.
• Abortion is covered in insurance policies for public employees only in cases of life endangerment, rape or incest.
• Medication abortion must be provided using the FDA protocol, thereby preventing the use of a more common, simpler evidence-based regimen.
• The parent of a minor must consent before an abortion is provided.
• Public funding is available for abortion only in cases of life endangerment, rape or incest.
• Most women will undergo an ultrasound before obtaining an abortion; since the provider must test for the fetal heartbeat. The woman will be offered the option to view the image.
