Planned Parenthood probe prompts legislation from Ohio GOP

The Planned Parenthood facilities disposed of fetal tissue the same way as other health care providers and DeWine’s proposed action was discriminatory and violated the organization’s right to due process and equal protection under the law, said Stephanie Kight of Planned Parenthood.

If the parties don’t agree, U.S. District Judge Court Edmund A. Sargus Jr.is expected to hold a court hearing this afternoon on Planned Parenthood’s federal lawsuit seeking a temporary restraining order to block the state from seeking changes in how the agency’s three clinics in the state dispose of fetal remains. According to their report, the following violations were documented during state health inspections of these so-called “safe and legal” abortion facilities – and this isn’t the complete list: Expired medications and medical instruments, unsterilized equipment, sterile and nonsterile supplies stored in the same room, the vent in a biohazard room taped off with cardboard, stirrups wrapped in duct tape, iodine swabs used to prevent wound infections expired by 10 years, and soiled linens in surgical rooms.

Planned Parenthood sued Ohio’s health director on Sunday in a dispute over how the organization’s affiliates handle the disposal of fetal tissue in the state. However, in the course of the probe, investigators found the clinics hired contractors who used a high-pressure, high-temperature auto-clave to sanitize the remains before disposing of them in a landfill.

DeWine told reporters on Friday the disposal practice is callous and violates state rules requiring that fetuses be disposed of in a humane manner.

In addition, the TV station discovered that one of the abortion clinics cited by the state was a Planned Parenthood facility in Augusta, which had 23 health or safety violations in one year alone and was fined $1,400 by the state.

Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers in the GOP-controlled Ohio House planned a Monday news conference to announce legislation following the attorney general’s investigation.

Planned Parenthood said it didn’t hear from health officials about the alleged violation until the group reached out to them Friday. However, that company stated to investigators it does not accept fetal remains for disposal as a corporate policy.

Attorney General Mike DeWine said his office found no evidence that Planned Parenthood made money from aborted fetuses, but his report instead criticized Planned Parenthood facilities for disposing of fetal remains in landfills.

Kight called DeWine’s accusations “inflammatory and false”.

Planned Parenthood has said some fetal tissue is donated for medical research. DeWine’s office didn’t identify that landfill.

“It’s clear from the Attorney General’s press conference that we’ve acted properly and legally, and this is just part of his longstanding political agenda to ban abortion in all cases”, said Jerry Lawson, CEO of Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio in a statement.

“This is an administration that has done everything possible to eliminate access to abortion in Ohio-secretly writing laws, working to close health centers, and even appointing the head of Ohio Right to Life to the state medical board”, she said.