Ohio Planned Parenthood Files Lawsuit to Kill Even More Babies in Abortions

Last week, news reports covered the latest lawsuit between Planned Parenthood and the Ohio Department of Health: apparently, the abortion giant isn’t happy about a delay in transferring the license of the notorious Women’s Med Dayton to their ownership.

Dr. Martin Haskell, the abortion center’s outgoing owner, is widely credited for popularizing the gruesome partial-birth abortion method when he described it and encouraged its use to other abortionists in 1992. At that time, he wrote that he had performed over 700 of these procedures and that the ideal time to extract the baby feet first and suction the contents of the skull before completing the abortion is at 20-26 weeks.

It’s hard to imagine a more callous disregard for human life.

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Planned Parenthood’s lawsuit may ultimately be decided in court, and I won’t speculate on how that legal dispute might end. What struck me most, though, isn’t the procedural question over a clinic license. It’s what the story reveals about the broader direction of abortion in Ohio.

First, Planned Parenthood’s carefully crafted rhetoric, happily repeated by the media, frames abortion as “care.” Words shape how we think about an issue. An abortion facility exists for the purpose of ending the lives of unborn children. This is certainly not care, and calling abortion “care” does not change the nature of what is happening when women end up at their facility. Ohioans deserve language that is clear and honest, especially on an issue with such profound moral and human consequences.

Second, Planned Parenthood’s own statements undermine the argument that this debate is simply about meeting the needs of Ohio women. According to its CEO, only about half of the abortion patients they now serve are from Ohio, with the organization increasingly providing abortions for women traveling from other states. During the 2023 constitutional amendment campaign, voters were repeatedly told that abortion policy was about “healthcare” for Ohio’s women. Now Planned Parenthood openly acknowledges that Ohio has become a destination for abortion. It’s taken less than 3 years.

Finally, Planned Parenthood’s assertion that this delay is just a political stunt overlooks the fact that the Department of Health has a legitimate job to do. There are safety standards for every ambulatory surgical facility. In fact, Planned Parenthood has previously been cited by the Ohio Department of Health for failing to comply with state regulations at its Cincinnati facility. Furthermore, the Dayton facility had previously lost its license due to lack of a transfer agreement with a local hospital. A transfer agreement is critical for continuity of care if there is a medical emergency during or after an abortion procedure.

The Dayton facility tried to regain the license and was denied by the Court of Appeals and the Ohio Supreme Court. It was not until the same clinic created a new corporate entity, then applied for a new variance and license that Amy Acton’s Department of Health approved the application, allowing the facility to continue operating after years of litigation had upheld the revocation of its previous license.

That administrative decision became one of the most consequential abortion-related actions taken during her tenure as Director of Health. The outcome was devastating for the unborn children and women of southwest Ohio.

Haskell’s retirement marks the end of a long and deeply troubling chapter in Ohio’s history—and honestly, it’s welcome news for that corner of the state. But Planned Parenthood is fighting to ensure that the abortion business continues uninterrupted under new ownership.

Whatever the courts ultimately decide about this license, Ohioans should look beyond the legal filings and ask bigger questions. Are we really okay with becoming a regional hub for abortion tourism? Do we want a penny of our tax dollars going to Planned Parenthood? Do we want to elect the person at the helm of DOH when they reversed course and allowed Haskell to continue snuffing out the lives of babies in Dayton?

Ohioans will have the opportunity to evaluate Amy Acton’s entire record as they consider their choice for governor. Her decision to approve the variance and new license that allowed Martin Haskell’s abortion business to continue operating is part of that record, and voters deserve to understand it.

LifeNews Note: Carrie Snyder is the executive director of Ohio Right to Life