October 4, 2023
Don’t look now, but it appears that the short-lived abortion prohibitions in Ohio worked. According to an article from the Daytona Daily News:
“For approximately 11 weeks following the end of Roe v. Wade, Ohio was under a six-week abortion ban in 2022, likely contributing to the 15% decline the state saw for abortions last year.
A total of 18,488 induced pregnancy terminations were reported in Ohio for 2022, according to the Ohio Department of Health’s newly released data, including 17,201 obtained by Ohio resident women (93%).
By comparison, a total of 21,813 induced pregnancy terminations were reported in Ohio in 2021, including 20,716 obtained by Ohio resident women (95%).”
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed the Heartbeat Abortion Prevention Act in April 2019, but Attorney General Yost was sued for enforcing it by local pro-abortion groups financed by out of state interests. The current law in Ohio allows for abortion up to 5 months into a pregnancy.
Nearly almost seven in ten Americans believe that some limits should be placed on abortion – but the Ohio ballot measure would permit abortion up to the moment of birth, a position so extreme only six other nations allow it (and they’re not famous for their human rights records).
This same news report also notes a trend that we’ve seen in many other states: the vast majority of the abortion recipients were black (48.4%) and before 12 weeks (89.7%). This correlates with what we have also seen: the majority of abortion industry clinics are targeting minorities, and unless early limits are in play, abortions will mostly never stop.
As has been covered previously in Students for Life Action (SFLAction) blogs, the ballot initiative in Ohio will come down to the wire in what is expected to be a hotly contested election on Tuesday, November 7. Life is literally on the ballot, and if the state Constitution is changed, it would:
- Prohibit any attempt to “burden, penalize, prohibit, interfere with, or discriminate” against abortion.
- Establish a “right” to sterilizing treatments, by saying that “reproductive decisions” must be allowed.
- Attack parental involvement and notification by defining a “right” for “individuals” to get abortions, meaning citizens of all ages.
- Ensure that any “person” that “assists” an “individual” to get an abortion, or receive sterilizing surgery, or exposure to irreversible hormones will be protected against prosecution.
- Prevent criminal prosecution of instances where abortion is used to cover up crimes like rape.
- Open the door to Ohioans’ tax money being used to pay for abortion.
SFLAction has been staying busy in the Buckeye State, rallying in support of the states’ Heartbeat Laws at the Ohio State Supreme Court, registering 100 new voters at Franciscan University during the “Abortion is on the Ballot” Ohio Fall Campus Tour, leading political workshops at Franciscan University, and a stop along on our Stop Abortion Extremism Tour.
To read about most recent rally in support of Ohio’s Heartbeat Laws, click HERE.
