On December 7th, the Ohio State Legislature passed a bill that would ban abortion after a month and a half - or six weeks - after conception, when a fetal heartbeat is usually first detected. This bill has caused widespread panic among women and pro-choice advocates, who fear that Roe v. Wade, a Supreme Court decision in 1973, which guarantees that the carrier's health takes precedence over the fetus and States may only begin to make restrictions during the third trimester of pregnancy but must balance the health of the carrier and the health of the fetus in their regulations.
Clearly, this bill is unconstitutional, and this is not the first time a state has attempted to go against the ruling of Roe v. Wade. In 2013, North Dakota tried to pass a bill that would also ban abortion after six weeks of conception, but the bill was shut down on unconstitutional grounds. Pro-Choice and Women's Rights advocates are hoping the issue will be shut down quickly by Governor John Kasich through a veto; however, Senator Faber, of Ohio, suggested in an interview that a Trump Presidency and appointment of many new Supreme Court judges could lead to a loss of rights for Women.
The result of the 2016 Election has caused concern among women, minorities, and organizations who protect such rights. Protests took place nationwide and Planned Parenthood received an exponential increase in donations to keep them afloat as conservative Republicans attempted to shut them down. Despite all the public outreach, political bodies and officials are still advocating to eliminate a right that women hold as a protection for their health, and against rape.
While in the debate in the state House, emotional reports of miscarriages and abortions were heard, as well as testimony by Democrat Greta Johnson, who pleaded against the bill arguing that it poses no exceptions for cases of rape or incest. She asked the House to put themselves in a victim's shoes, "What would you say to her if you had to look at her and tell her no, that at 12 years old, she would be forced to carry a baby because she was impregnated by her brother?" Jim Buchy (R) argued that the passage of this bill will encourage responsibility, and most cases of abortions are not due to rape. In a statement by Iris Harvey, the CEO of Planned Parenthood, "This bill could take away a woman's right to make her own medical decisions before she would have known she had the decision to make... Not only is this shameful, but it's dangerous for women." Ohio has not been shy to place indirect restrictions on abortion, since laws requiring an in-person meeting with a doctor followed by a waiting period of 24 hours, limitations on the use of drugs to induce abortions, and restrictions on abortion clinics have caused many to shut down altogether, severely limiting access for women.
In addition to issues concerning women's rights, there is an error in medical legitimacy concerning this bill. Most women, according to the American Medical Association, the bill serves "no medical purpose," and did "nothing to improve the health and safety of Women," according to a New York Times article. There are also arguments that the six-week limit is too soon for women, and this is medically proven as most women do not know they are pregnant until exactly at the six-week mark, or weeks after therefore it is essentially impossible for a woman to get an abortion given these restrictions.
