Every passing legislative session in Ohio is making abortion a little less legal, and an official of Planned Parenthood in the state said the abortion-promoting organization is now in the fight of its life. Another pair of bills cleared the state senate this week and advocates say abortion rights are being rapidly dismantled.
Some 55 bills that mention abortion have been introduced in the Ohio General Assembly this year. The bills range from the Heartbeat Bill to other pieces of legislation that have little bearing on actual abortion but still include steps to ensure abortion-related activities don’t get state funding.
The latest two bills involve attempted abortions and so-called abortion reversal. Senate Bill 155 requires doctors to inform women about the possibility of reversing an abortion. Opponents of this bill have called it “junk science” while the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) says the bill threatens patient safety, with the apparent condition that unborn children are not considered “patients.”
ACOG is very clear and comprehensive about its support of abortion.
The second bill requires doctors to report when a child is born alive after an “unsuccessful” abortion. Doctors who don’t make an effort to keep an infant alive under those circumstances would then face criminal charges.
Planned Parenthood of Ohio’s vice president for government affairs says she’s noticed an increase in abortion-related legislation over the past decade, according to Cincinnati’s WKRC . She also says in the past few years, 22 bills have been passed targeting abortion in Ohio and Planned Parenthood is now in the fight of its life.
“Senate Bill 155 is a great example of how these politicians are just supporting the radical anti-abortion agenda instead of looking for what would be best for patients and folks who are trying to have healthier lives. Senate Bill 155 is junk science,” said Lauren Blauvelt-Copelin.
Those bills now head to the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
