Last week, Ohio’s Attorney General Mike DeWine released the findings of an investigation that showed aborted baby parts from Ohio’s Planned Parenthood branch were ending up in landfills. Planned Parenthood Ohio denied the allegations, while adding that any questions relating to disposal should be directed to the service that they use–not them. DeWine said the manner in which Planned Parenthood disposed of aborted baby parts violated the state’s administrative code, which states that a “fetus shall be disposed of in a humane manner.” He referred this incident to the Department of Health, prompting Planned Parenthood to file a lawsuit against the state (via CNN):
Attorneys for Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit Sunday in federal court claiming that Ohio politicians are attempting to ban abortion."Politicians in Ohio will stop at nothing to ban abortion in all cases in our state. Today, we're asking a federal court to prevent the state from this plainly political attempt to restrict women's access to safe and legal abortion," said Stephanie Kight, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio.
The lawsuit comes after Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said Friday an investigation by his office revealed that Planned Parenthood -- or the biomedical companies working with the health organization -- dispose of aborted fetal parts in landfills.
Planned Parenthood officials called the claims "bogus" after DeWine, a Republican, threatened to take legal action against the group.
"This sudden and targeted treatment is no doubt motivated by his animus to a woman's right to safe and legal abortion and to Planned Parenthood in particular," Planned Parenthood says in the lawsuit.
The organization is seeking a preliminary injunction that would block DeWine and Ohio health officials from interfering with its services.
That injunction was granted earlier today:
A federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked Ohio officials from taking legal action against Planned Parenthood to enforce fetal tissue disposal rules, and Republican state lawmakers proposed new regulations for such disposal.[...]
DeWine had planned to file an injunction in state court to prevent Planned Parenthood from disposing of fetal remains as its affiliates have done. But a federal lawsuit filed Sunday by Planned Parenthood complicated his plan.
Planned Parenthood sued the state's health director, accusing him of changing the interpretation of the disposal rule. In its lawsuit, Planned Parenthood said it's never been cited by the Ohio Department of Health, which licenses abortion facilities in Ohio, for violating the disposal regulations.
Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider, has been under siege since the Center for Medical Progress released a series of undercover videos showing officials from the non-profit allegedly engaging in the illegal sale of human body parts. On top of the lawsuit, the organization is raising $20 million to spend on next year’s elections.
Right now, the Ohio legislature is considering legislation that would require abortion clinics and hospitals to dispose of aborted babies by either burial or cremation, according to the Associated Press. They added that pro-abortion activists see this legislative push as a way to "shame women" who have undergone an abortion.
Brace yourselves; we're about to have an overblown and unnecessary fight about how one should properly dispose of a human being. It's come to this.
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