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Ohio, I’ve Never Been More Disappointed in You

Mike DeWine, Ohio’s new governor, just signed the most restrictive abortion law in the country, and I’m never been more disappointed in my home state than I am now. When this bill was introduced into the Ohio government, former governor, John Kasich, straight up told Ohioans he would veto the bill twice. I’d like to mention that he is a Republican.

With DeWine’s new heartbeat bill, Ohio has legally outlawed abortion up to as early as six weeks. Keep in mind that the majority of women do not even know they are pregnant at this time, which means it does not even give women in Ohio the choice to make a decision about whether to continue the pregnancy or not, or whether this is a good time in her life for this.

DeWine said, “The government’s role should be to protect life from beginning to end.” Um, excuse me? First off, why is the government getting between me and my own bodily choices? Second of all…DeWine, are you really protecting Ohioans lives from beginning to end? What about all the Ohioans who are homeless, all the ones who cannot afford even the basic necessities, what about the overcrowded foster care centers? Your so-called “protection” hasn’t been offered to them. So what? Your protection ends once a fetus is born into an actual child? What about the rape victims and those whose bodies cannot medically bare a child?

Where’s their protection, DeWine?

Where’s the protection of women’s rights in Ohio?

Where’s the line in the bill that states when a heartbeat is detected that the men are obligated to stay?

In reality, DeWine is only protecting Ohioan’ lives at the very beginning, but after that, he could care less. And it is restricting only women, their health, their lives, and their finances.

The only thing Ohio’s new Heartbeat Bill is doing is saying that a woman’s autonomy is worth significantly less than a fetus who cannot live on its own. Especially at six weeks, no fetus can live outside the womb. How does that have any rights? It’s like saying a grain of sand on a beach has autonomy. It’s like saying that that piece of sand has the right to say you cannot remove it from the beach on which it lays upon when you leave from vacation.

At six weeks, that fetus has potential to grow into a human being. At six weeks, without lungs, skin, and organs does it really overpower the autonomy of a living woman?

Apparently Ohio’s government thinks that, but this Ohioan has to disagree.

Now, let’s talk law.

Under this bill, any doctor could face up to a year in prison for performing the abortion. But that’s not all! This bill wants to tack on a fifth-degree felony! Now, Ohio has five levels on felonies, and the fifth is the lowest offense…but nonetheless, it’s a felony.

So let’s recap, Ohio just passed a bill that basically states the following: We’re trying to overturn Roe v. Wade, and in an attempt to do so we’re going to make it nearly impossible for all women in the state of Ohio to have a safe abortion if she chooses to do so. Also, the Democrats would like to give you better women’s health care and paid maternity leave, but we’re going to overlook that for now. Oh, and by the way, your doctor is getting a fifth-degree felony and a possibility of 12 months in jail just for recognizing women’s autonomy. But we believe in protecting life from beginning to end…or so we say.

Ohio, I am disappointed in you.

I believe you have the right to decide if having a baby or an abortion is right for you, especially in cases of rape and incest (which this bill still says women still have to have even in these cases). Women have worked so hard over the years to gain their own basic human rights, and now state by state it’s being taken away.

Ohio is the sixth state to pass the Heartbeat Bill, and sadly, they are the sixth state to make the mistake of taking away women’s rights and providing safe abortions for Ohioans in their own state.

I expected more out of you Ohio.