When a bill is drafted and sometimes even when politicians vote on it and make it the law, it can codify something that people think they want in the abstract, but that seems less attractive when its consequences present themselves. This is especially true if that bill is supposed to be a stepping stone to a larger change.
This is the common perception of the rise of “heartbeat” bills that seek to prohibit abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected. As Eric Zorn from The Chicago Tribune put it , these laws work to present a direct challenge to the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that enshrined abortion rights for women.
Such an attempt has been widely criticized for restricting women’s freedoms over their bodies, but even their most ardent supporters may find one aspect of the Ohio version of this law hard to defend.
As stated, “heartbeat” laws like the one that passed in Ohio back in April prohibit women from getting abortions as soon as a heartbeat is detected in the womb.
As NPR reported , these bills generally take effect within the first six weeks of pregnancy, and the one introduced in Ohio is no exception.
Part of the issue is that women who are pregnant for six weeks often don’t even realize it.
So under this bill, it’s entirely possible for women to discover that they’re pregnant and that they have no choice but to carry that pregnancy to term at the same time.
And there are almost no cases in which the bill as signed by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine would not force a woman to continue her pregnancy.
According to NPR , this applies if a woman becomes pregnant as a result of rape and even if the pregnancy was a result of rape by a family member.
Under this law, a doctor who performs an abortion would face a felony charge punishable of up to a year in prison. They could also be fined up to $20,000 by the State Medical Board.
The only women who are exempt from this law are those whose pregnancies put their lives in danger.
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The Chicago Tribune also reported that this exception can also apply in the case of the expectation that a pregnancy will cause grave bodily harm.
However, provided that a healthy pregnancy can be assured, there’s nothing in the law suggesting that even a child as young as 11 wouldn’t be forced to carry a baby to term.
Unfortunately, this isn’t just some sick hypothetical scenario. This is a legitimate concern because The Chiucago Tribune reported that a girl of that very age became pregnant in Northwestern Ohio after a 26-year-old man repeatedly raped her.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the only case where such an outrageous situation has unfolded this year, and the law wasn’t on the other little girls’ side either.
As The Chicago Tribune reported , an 11-year-old girl and a 12-year-old girl became pregnant in Argentina after two men in their 60s raped them.
Although the law technically would have allowed them to abort these pregnancies within a certain time frame, government, health, and religious officials managed to delay the family requests for these abortions until it was too late.
Both gave birth via Caesarean sections at 23 and 24 weeks, respectively. Both babies died.
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If there is any hope we can glean from absolutely any part of the demoralizing situation the girl in Ohio faces, it’s that it’s unlikely she will share the same fate.
As The Chicago Tribune reported, Ohio’s heartbeat law doesn’t come into effect until mid-July even in the unlikely that it doesn’t end up blocked by a federal judge on appeal.
Should the girl decide to end her pregnancy, she will be within her rights to do so until then.
However, there’s another bill under consideration in Ohio that could make the implications of this one even more serious.
It doesn’t intend to stop at prohibiting abortion, but also “drugs or devices used to prevent the implantation of a fertilized ovum.”
In other words, it seeks to make many forms of birth control illegal.
h/t: The Chicago Tribune