Within the last year, our governor, John Kasich, has signed a bill to block Planned Parenthood from receiving government funding.

A lot of people do not realize all the services Planned Parenthood provides. It is not just abortion services, which is what Kasich was trying to defund.

Planned Parenthood offers medical care for low-income women and families. They provide everything from STI and cancer screenings to information and access to many different kinds of contraception methods. They have programs designed to end domestic violence and also offer care to expectant mothers and newborns.

If these services are no longer available in Ohio, many women will not be able to afford contraceptives. It is estimated that there would be an extra $130 million in Medicaid spending for additional births and illnesses that these women would have because they can not obtain the health care that Planned Parenthood would have provided for a low price, or even for free.

The majority of Ohioans oppose the defunding, but that does not stop Gov. Kasich from signing bills that do so. I have been doing a lot of research as a woman and an undergraduate student.

I urge Gov. Kasich to listen to the facts, to listen to the rest of the women and Ohioans that rely on the services Planned Parenthood offers. There are no other alternatives, and we should live in a place where health care can be affordable and reliable.

Morgan Kirkpatrick is a guest columnist. Contact her at [email protected].