HB 239 Hurts Ohio Women

Late at night under the cover of darkness, during its post-election lame duck session, the Ohio General Assembly passed House Bill 239 on December 21 after it languished for 13 months without any hearings.

Instead of working to prevent unplanned pregnancies through increased access to reproductive health care for all women and comprehensive sex education, HB 239 instead:

• Declares it the public policy of the state to prefer childbirth over abortion:  “...it is the public policy of the state to prefer childbirth over abortion, to permit any person to petition a court of common pleas for an order enjoining the operation of a health care facility without a license, to modify the laws governing public funding of abortions, and to prohibit the use of funds appropriated for genetic services to be used for abortion-related purposes.”

• Restricts the use of public funds for abortions by limiting access to abortion for women on Medicaid and makes no exceptions when the health of the woman is in danger. For example, there is no exception made when the pregnancy would risk future fertility or when continuing to carry the pregnancy would result in blindness or loss of another bodily function.

• Prohibits doctors and other professionals participating in state funded genetic testing programs from counseling on abortion options with women, even when severe or fatal fetal abnormalities are likely.

The governor signed the bill into law on January 4.