Columbus City Council Condemns Enactment of the Six-Week Abortion Ban
For Immediate Release
April 15, 2019
CONTACT:
https://prochoiceohio.org/category/press-releases/
Columbus
City Council Condemns Enactment of the Six-Week Abortion Ban
Reaffirms
support for comprehensive reproductive healthcare for women
[COLUMBUS – OH] On Thursday, April 11, 2019, Governor Mike
DeWine signed Substitute Senate Bill 23, a bill that will essentially eliminate
abortion in Ohio. This bill has no exceptions for victims of rape or incest,
and woefully inadequate exceptions for the health and life of the woman.
Countless hours of testimony against the bill were provided to both the Ohio
House and Senate throughout the hearing process and hundreds of protestors came
to the Statehouse for its passage. Ohio is the fifth and largest state to pass
this law despite courts blocking its implementation as unconstitutional in
other states where it has passed.
The resolution passed by Council details how this ban will
negatively impact the City of Columbus’s ability to attract qualified medical
professionals and businesses to the city, and works directly against local
efforts like CelebrateOne and Restoring Our Own Through Transformation (ROOTT)
to reduce infant mortality and promote the health of its citizens. Abortion
access is a key component of comprehensive health care for women, and research
demonstrates that babies are more likely to live to their first birthday if
their mothers have a lifetime of good health.
Access to comprehensive reproductive healthcare supports the
health and wellbeing of women and families in Columbus by providing safe and
healthy family planning options, preventing unintended pregnancies, increasing
women’s participation in the labor force, and improving economic security for
families.
Elizabeth Brown, President Pro
Tempore, Columbus City Council:
“Rather than implementing regressive and extreme policies like
Substitute Senate Bill 23, policy makers should instead focus on supportive
services to reduce unintended pregnancies and promote the success of all
families by investing in comprehensive sex education, access to contraceptives,
and quality affordable childcare.”
Kellie Copeland, Executive
Director, NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio:
"Governor DeWine and anti-choice Ohio legislators are
waging a crusade to outlaw abortion in our state; forcing people to continue
pregnancies regardless of the harm that may come to them or their family. The
public servants on Columbus City County are wisely standing up for the
reproductive freedom and dignity that everyone who needs abortion care
deserves.
Councilperson Elizabeth Brown and her colleagues understand that
being able to make their own decisions about when or whether to continue a
pregnancy to term is essential to a person being able to care for themselves
and their family, and that strong families are the foundation for a strong
community. We thank council for taking a strong stand against this dangerous
abortion ban.”
Iris E. Harvey, President and
CEO, Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio and Planned Parenthood Advocates of
Ohio:
“By signing this bill, the DeWine administration is effectively
outlawing safe, legal abortion in Ohio by preventing people from accessing
abortion as early as six-weeks into a pregnancy, which is before most know
people know they are pregnant. Ohio lawmakers have inserted themselves where they
have no business, in the important relationship between a patient and their
doctor, endangering their health and lives by interfering with a doctor’s
ability to treat a pregnant patient without fear or threat of prosecution.
Further, this law would criminalize a doctor who provides the care that a
patient needs. A doctor performing ethical and medical duties would be subject
to felony charges, prosecution, and civil lawsuits.
Ohio’s communities deserve and need access to affordable and
accessible reproductive health care, which includes safe, legal abortion.
Planned Parenthood applauds the Columbus City Council and Councilwoman Liz
Brown’s leadership in centering patient voices in the fight to reduce Ohio’s
embarrassingly high rates of infant mortality and maternal morbidity and
recognizing that trusting people to make the right decisions for them and their
families leads to healthier families and communities across Ohio.”
Jessica Roach, CEO and founder of
Restoring Our Own Through Transformation, a kindred partner of the Black Mamas
Matter Alliance:
“ROOTT stands firmly in that this, and other legislative bills
of its kind that further deny access to all reproductive health care, is a
violation of patient’s right to informed decision making. Bills like Senate
Bill 23 will not only further criminalize Black families, but will create an
environment for increased incidence of Maternal Mortality, and continue the
historical, systemically racist and oppressive approach that allows a few to
dictate how, where, when, and IF we create a family. ROOTT stands in the
principles of Reproductive Justice and the human right to autonomy. Our
families and communities have been disrupted and destroyed by policy created
over our 400 year timeline with absolutely no regard for our autonomy and it
must stop.
We are thankful that Columbus City Council sees the dangers
imposed by this legislation and will continue to work in Central Ohio to
improve maternal health in our community.”
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