CV NEWS FEED // An Ohio state senator introduced legislation this week that would give nonrefundable tax credits for donations to pregnancy resource centers, the first pro-life bill since the passing of Issue 1.
“Ohio has long been a leader in defending the rights of the unborn and was one of the first states to pass the Heartbeat Bill in 2019,” Sandra O’Brien (R-Ashtabula) told the Senate Finance Committee on November 14 when she introduced the bill:
As the pro-life movement makes the case for life, it is more important than ever to take concrete steps to support women and families facing an unexpected pregnancy. Helping to sustain and expand the work that local PRCs are already doing in their communities only serves to help the communities in which they are involved.
The bill allows donors to receive tax credit if they give to a qualifying Ohio pregnancy resource center. Qualifying PRCs must have non-profit status, at least 50% of its clients must claim to be Ohio residents, and its primary purpose must be “to provide free or low-cost assistance, which may include pregnancy tests, ultrasounds, counseling, material support, and similar services for pregnant women in carrying their pregnancies to term.”
“By creating a tax credit for donations to PRCs, the state is investing in a network providing high-quality health care to pregnant women,” O’Brien said.
“Pregnancy resources centers save their communities millions of dollars annually,” she continued, citing a report from the Charlotte Lozier Institute. “This care supplements other state programs, offsetting the cost of medical services that would otherwise be funded by taxpayers, most likely through increased emergency room and Medicaid usage.”
The text clarifies that a pregnancy resource center would not be eligible if the center provides or promotes abortions, or is affiliated with any entity that does.
The text also adds that “a commissioner may not approve more than ten million dollars in total tax credits in a calendar year and may not approve more than five million dollars in tax credits on the basis of donations to the same certified pregnancy resource center in a calendar year.”
“There are more than 175 PRCs in Ohio providing hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical care and material assistance to mothers and families in their communities,” O’Brien told the Committee:
Almost all of this help is provided to women and families in need for free due to the donations PRCs receive by the local community. PRCs are not for-profit businesses…. They rely fully on the charitable giving by those around them, and donations received are immediately used to provide better service to women in need…
Many people working at a PRC either make very little money or are hired purely on a volunteer basis. They also are required, in many cases, to go through an extensive training program just to work as a volunteer receptionist. Their work and care day in and day out shows their commitment to serving women and families around them and saving the lives of the unborn. A tax credit is the least we can do to support the PRCs in Ohio.
