Ohio to reimburse Planned Parenthood nearly $50,000 after long-running lawsuit

Ohio will pay Planned Parenthood nearly $50,000 as part of a high-profile settlement after its top legal official accused the group of illegally dumping fetal remains in landfills.

Planned Parenthood filed the lawsuit last December over the explosive charges from Attorney General Mike DeWine, who said fetal remains from Ohio clinics were being “steam-cooked and taken to a Kentucky landfill.”

The settlement of $45,447 in legal bills, first reported by the Dayton Daily News, ends a long-running legal battle between Ohio state officials and Planned Parenthood, which included a temporary restraining order against the attorney general.

The women’s health group claimed that Ohio had tweaked a state rule requiring fetuses to be disposed of in a “humane manner” — without defining the term — in an attempt to target abortion clinics.

DeWine delivered his accusations in a fiery news conference on Dec. 11, in which he said he was announcing the results of the state’s investigation. That probe was launched after Planned Parenthood became the target of undercover videos from an anti-abortion-rights group that focused on fetal parts last summer.

DeWine had claimed he found evidence that clinics in Columbus, Cincinnati and a Cleveland suburb had once used vendors that disposed of fetal remains through incineration. The clinics later said they had switched vendors and argued they never violated the law. Planned Parenthood sharply condemned the accusations.

Planned Parenthood had not been cited by the Ohio Department of Health for improper disposal of fetal remains, according to the Columbus Dispatch.