OVER 2.5 MILLION OHIOANS OF REPRODUCTIVE AGE COULD LOSE ACCESS TO LEGAL ABORTION
For Immediate Release: Oct. 12, 2021
Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio
For Immediate Release: Monday, October 11, 2021
Contact: Aileen Day [email protected]
OVER 2.5 MILLION OHIOANS OF REPRODUCTIVE AGE COULD LOSE ACCESS TO LEGAL ABORTION
If Roe falls, 36 million people of reproductive age nationwide could lose the right to abortion
OHIO — Tonight, Mason City Council might vote to ban abortion in their city. If passed, it would ban abortion in all instances within the City of Mason and would criminalize helping someone access an abortion. We will be showing up to demand bans off our bodies tonight, October 11th at 6:30pm at Mason Municipal Center.
Planned Parenthood Federation of America and In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda released new research showing that over 2.5 million people of reproductive age could lose abortion access in Ohio if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade. According to the Red Alert Report, abortion access is at risk in 26 states that are home to nearly half of the people of reproductive age (18-49) in the United States — more than 36 million people.
If the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v Wade, abortion could quickly be banned across Ohio if SB 123, the Trigger Ban, passes in the Ohio Statehouse. In Ohio, abortion is already a right in name only for far too many people. Because of 30 restrictions and bans in the last 10 years, many people struggle to access abortion. These restrictions fall hardest on Black, Latino, and Indigenous people, people with low incomes, and people living in rural areas.
Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court turned its back on nearly 50 years of precedent, allowing Texas’s six-week abortion ban to take effect and rendering Roe v. Wade effectively meaningless for many Texans. On December 1st, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case about Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban in which Mississippi and others have asked the Court to overturn Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which would put abortion access at risk across the nation. These cases pose a crisis-level threat to safe, legal abortion in our country.
Statement from Iris Harvey, President & CEO of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio, and Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio:
“This is a crisis moment. The threat to the constitutional right to an abortion has never been greater. If the Trigger Ban is passed, it would immediately outlaw abortion in Ohio if Roe v Wade was overturned. This would leave 2.5 million Ohioans without access to a safe and legal option to terminate a pregnancy at any stage, with no exceptions. Ohio Republicans have been chipping away at our abortion rights for a decade—they are now seizing the opportunity to eliminate it altogether. The impact of this bill would be felt deeply in every community across Ohio.”
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Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio supports advocacy for reproductive health and reproductive rights, including grassroots organizing, community education, and lobbying. www.ppao.org