Abortion Is on the Ballot in Ohio
Abortion is still legal in the state of Ohio. However, inspired by Texas’ passing of the Heartbeat Bill in September, the GOP supermajority is working to ban it in its entirety. With the governor and both House and Senate majorities outspokenly anti-choice, a woman’s right to choose is under fire.
While it is still legal to get an abortion in Ohio, the state has created barriers and made it physically and mentally harder on patients who seek the care over the years. For example, Ohio has a 24-hour waiting period for an abortion. Meaning, every patient getting an abortion has to go to the clinic at least twice. The first appointment is to detect a fetal heartbeat, which is not medically necessary in terms of getting an abortion. This is simply a state mandate to let the woman hear the heartbeat. Along with this, the doctor must also share state-mandated language to inaccurately describe the development of the fetus in an attempt to stop people from carrying out the procedure. The second appointment is for the actual procedure, and both appointments must be with the same doctor. The 24-hour waiting period requires the patient to take additional days off work, which further the challenges of paying for healthcare.
The cost of abortions starts at around $500 and goes up from there. However, some private Ohio insurance companies will not cover abortions, leaving the patient to pay these costs out-of-pocket. Minors in the state of Ohio need written parental permission to get an abortion and, without such permission, would have to go before a judge to be approved.
Transportation is an enormous hurdle in receiving this critical care. 93% of counties in Ohio do not have clinics that provide the essential service, leaving patients driving hours for access, especially in more rural areas of the state. Not only are there an inadequate number of facilities, Governor DeWine passed SB 260 in January, which prohibits the use of telemedicine for medically induced abortions to curb “at-home abortions.” These mandates and laws are simply designed to make it more challenging to access abortions and can be deemed medically unnecessary.
Additionally, this year the city of Lebanon became the state’s first “sanctuary city for the unborn.” By a unanimous vote, Lebanon passed an ordinance that makes getting or assisting in an abortion a misdemeanor offense punishable by up to $2,500 in fines and up to a year in jail. It also bans providing money or assistance to anyone seeking an abortion, even if the abortion takes place outside of the city limits—another dangerous measure to limit the number of abortions in the state.
Inspired by the law Texas passed to outlaw abortion after six weeks, the Ohio GOP introduced Senate Bill 123, also known as the Human Life Protection Act, which would ban abortion if the Supreme Court would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade in the Mississippi abortion case this December, making Ohio a “right to life state.” If passed, abortion would be illegal, with no exceptions for rape or incest. Abortions would only be permitted in instances of life or death. Furthermore, doctors would be charged with a 4th-degree felony, lose their licenses to practice medicine, and be subject to thousands of dollars in fines if they break this law. When faced with a life or death situation, to execute the abortion, the doctor must get a second physician to sign off on the severity of the circumstances, then perform the abortion in such a way that it would provide the best opportunity to preserve the life of the unborn fetus and then take all steps to preserve the life and wellbeing of the child once extracted from utero.
This fall, not just in Ohio but across the country, abortion is on the ballot. At Rideshare2Vote, we believe in a woman’s fundamental right to choose. Whether it be Texas, Ohio, or Florida, we need to stand together and elect Democrats who will protect the right to bodily autonomy when it comes to abortion. It is not at the hands of the GOP to decide what a woman does with her body. In the words of the late Justice Ruth Bader-Ginsburg, “When the government makes that decision for her, she is being treated as less than a full adult human responsible for making her own choices.” Join us at Rideshare2Vote where we will help elect leaders who will fight to protect abortion access. It is now more important than ever to stand against the bans popping up across the country. This means turning out in local elections, electing leaders who will protect a woman’s right to choose, and electing a governor who will uphold reproductive rights.
by Heather Tingley
