Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit Sunday in federal court claiming Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine made false allegations against the group in an attempt to ban abortion.
Here are three things to know about the lawsuit.
1. Attorney General DeWine concluded an investigation Friday into Planned Parenthood affiliates in the state. The investigation found no evidence fetal tissue was sold by Ohio Planned Parenthood affiliates, but it did say the organization was disposing of aborted fetuses in landfills, according to a letter to Richard Hodges, director of the Ohio Department of Health.
2. Planned Parenthood called these allegations "absolutely not true," and Stephanie Kight, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio, issued the following statement, "The reality is that we handle medical tissue just like other healthcare providers do, and we always have. We're inspected regularly to ensure that we're handling fetal tissue properly and legally. 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."
3. Planned Parenthood also claimed it learned of Attorney General DeWine's allegations through the press, rather than the Department of Health, which failed to allow the organization to address the allegations. Planned Parenthood said the attorney general threatened to take legal action that would restrict access to abortion in the state.
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