Shonda Rhimes Joins National Board Of Planned Parenthood | 16 States Join Fight Against Ohio Abortion Law

Shonda Rhimes, the creative, business genius behind 'Grey's Anatomy', 'Scandal' and 'How To Get Away With Murder' will now become a voice for one of America's most trusted health care providers: Planned Parenthood. 

Already serving on the PP board out in Los Angeles, and now explaining her response when Planned Parenthood Federation of America president Cecile Richards called, Rhimes says she didn't hesitate. 

"When someone you really admire...calls on you to serve, you say yes," she explains. (It's mutual, says Richards: "I've been so, so impressed by everything she's ever done.") "The fact is that women's health is under fire right now," Rhimes says. "And so to me, it feels like it's important to help fight back."

"I just want to be of service," she continues. "And I'll do that any way I can."

The assault of the Trump Administration on Planned Parenthood is relentless, as is its expanded crusade on women's health clinics worldwide. Attorneys general from 16 states, led by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman (D)  joined a lawsuit challenging an Oho law that would deny state and federal funds to organizations providing abortions -- even though the suit acknowledges that no federal funds go to pay for abortions. Ohio wants to cut off any federal funds to pay for HIV tests, cancer screenings and infant mortality prevention. 

A federal judge blocked the law from taking effect last year, agreeing that it violated the First Amendment rights of two Planned Parenthood chapters in Ohio. The Ohio Department of Health appealed the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit.

The Ohio law focused on health care providers beyond Planned Parenthood. The Columbus Public Health Department warned last year that it would be unable to sign contracts with any of the city’s hospitals because they either provide abortion services, contract with clinics that do so or refer patients to other places where they can find such services, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported.