Columbus – Today state representatives on the House Health and Aging Committee held the third public hearing on a bill (HB 298) that would eliminate federal funding for pap tests, breast exams, and prenatal care at Planned Parenthood health centers throughout Ohio.

“In these difficult economic times, women should have access to essential health care services such as breast and cervical cancer screenings, birth control, prenatal care, and testing and treatment of STDs,” said Beth Lonn, Interim CEO of Planned Parenthood of Central Ohio. “Planned Parenthood will not let politics interfere with the health care relied on by nearly 100,000 Ohioans each year. We call on lawmakers to put politics aside and put Ohio women and families first.”

The anticipated substitute bill, which was not presented to the committee, would block federal funding under the Maternal Child Health Block Grant, the Infertility Prevention Program, the Minority HIV/AIDS Initiative, the Breast and Cervical Cancer Mortality Prevention Act, and the Violence Against Women Act from Planned Parenthood health centers in Ohio.

The bill could block women’s access to a wide range of preventive health services at Planned Parenthood health centers. For example, the Maternal and Child Health Block Grant helps to fund Planned Parenthood of Northeast Ohio’s Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies program to prevent infant mortality in Mahoning and Trumbull Counties. The program is a neighborhood prenatal outreach program for African American women, providing in-home visits for prenatal care coordination during and after pregnancy. The infant mortality rate for African American babies is almost two and a half times more than the rate for white women.

“Planned Parenthood’s doors are open to every woman in need. At any given time, we are helping up to 90 women deliver healthy babies, but over the course of the program, we have served many more,” said Celeste Ribbins, Vice President of Community Initiatives for Planned Parenthood of Northeast Ohio. “Some politicians want to cut Planned Parenthood out of the health care network in Ohio, but they can’t. We serve women who trust us and who know that Planned Parenthood will be there for them, no matter what.”