Abortion opponents are nothing if not persistent -- and imaginative.
June 6, 2005
In the past several weeks, two bills targeting abortion rights have been introduced in the Ohio House. One is astonishingly far-reaching: HB 228, introduced by Rep. Tom Brinkman, R-Cincinnati, would ban all abortions in Ohio -- regardless of rape or mother's health -- and make it a crime for Ohio women to seek abortions in other states.
"We think this may be the most restrictive abortion ban in the country because of that prohibition against travel," said NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio Executive Director Kellie Copeland. "If you were raped and had a health problem that meant that pregnancy threatened your life, if your husband drove you to Detroit or Pittsburgh to get an abortion to save your life, he'd be committing a felony.
"Unfortunately, the majority of the representatives in the House and Senate currently are anti-choice," she said. "With this bill, we will find out how anti-choice they are."
The bill is widely considered unconstitutional, and that's the point. Supporters know that if it passes, it will be challenged in court immediately. Their hope is that it will reach the U.S. Supreme Court after President Bush has had a chance to appoint a new justice or two -- who presumably would be more open to revisiting Roe. v. Wade.
The second bill, HB 239, sponsored by Rep. Michelle Schneider, R-Cincinnati, would prohibit the use of public funds or facilities for non-therapeutic abortions (meaning the mother's life is not in danger). But the bill also would establish a state policy to prefer childbirth over abortion "to the extent that is constitutionally permissible."
NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio representatives were still studying the bill at the time this article was written and hadn't yet formed a response. -- Amy Starnes
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