COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Planned Parenthood is suing Ohio’s health department over a law designed to strip government money from the organization’s affiliates in the state.

The funds, mostly federal, have supported HIV testing, promoted teen pregnancy prevention and provided help to new or expectant mothers.

Ohio’s law is slated to take effect May 23. It would bar the money from going to entities that perform or promote abortions.

In a complaint filed Wednesday in federal court, Planned Parenthood says the law violates the organization’s constitutional rights by denying it funding “in retaliation for” providing abortions. It wants the court to block the law from being enforced.

The organization has said the cuts would not force the closure of any of its 28 health centers in Ohio, but it would deprive patients of services.

Ohio Right to Life released the following statement in response to Planned Parenthood’s lawsuit

The State of Ohio has every right and reason to cut off state funding from entities that do not fit our state policy to prefer childbirth over abortion. Millions of times over, Planned Parenthood has proven that its mission is antithetical to this policy, and its work is destructive to human life. By Planned Parenthood’s own admission, state funding made up about 5-7 percent of their annual budget. The irony is that Planned Parenthood is now spilling money to retain state money in a frivolous lawsuit that is built on the absurd premise that they are short on money. Taxpayer money is better spent at life-affirming facilities that serve women and their children instead of a hyper-political corporation that is constantly mired in scandal.”

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