Since six Justices on the Supreme Court stripped away this right, I’ve joined hundreds of young people at protests in Dayton and Fairborn. They have never known a time when abortion was not a protected right and for many this was the first protest they ever attended. They share my outrage that in Ohio abortion is now banned after six weeks when many don’t know they’re pregnant. They’re outraged there is no exception for rape or incest, forcing girls as young as ten to leave Ohio for an abortion.
Right now, hundreds of women and girls turn to Dayton’s Women’s Med Center for pre-op services before traveling to Indiana for an abortion. Soon they will have to travel even further since the Indiana legislature plans to make abortion illegal there. Almost half of all states have banned or will likely ban abortion. As legal battles continue, abortionfinder.org provides guidance. If Republicans get control of Congress, they will try to ban abortions in every state.
One in four U.S. women will have an abortion in her lifetime. Banning abortion won’t stop abortion — it will only make it more difficult and dangerous, driving it underground. Women and girls will die as a result — disproportionately poor and minority women.
Research from the Guttmacher Institute and others show the way to lower abortions is through access to birth control, yet extreme anti-abortion legislation now under consideration in the Republican-dominated Ohio House would actually restrict access to contraceptives by providing protection to the fertilized egg before it implants in the womb. Ohio HB 480 would declare the fertilized egg a “person” and could be used to criminalize miscarriages. HB 598 would also ban abortion at conception, and would criminalize abortion and the “promotion” of abortion.
These bills would also seek to prevent access to the over-the-counter Plan B Morning After emergency contraception pill which can be taken up to five days after unprotected sex as well as the “abortion pill” (medication abortion) that uses mifepristone (Mifeprix) and misoprostol to end pregnancies up to ten weeks. The abortion pill is FDA-approved and accounts for over half the abortions provided in the U.S. The online site PlanCPills.org provides up-to-date information on how people in the U.S. are accessing at-home abortion pill options online.
Anyone who believes reproductive decisions should be made by the person involved rather than politicians needs to support candidates who will fight for our rights and to vote this November — and get other like-minded people out to vote. Support for those who need help to travel out of state for abortion can be provided by sending $25 gas cards to the Women’s Med Center in Dayton or by supporting Women Have Options, a state-wide fund for abortion support. Help stop unwanted pregnancies by supporting Planned Parenthood.
Dayton Women’s Rights Alliance, a feminist organization founded in 2007 to promote and protect the rights of women, will continue to rally, educate and organize for reproductive justice. We believe it’s time to stand up, speak out and fight back. Follow us on Facebook at Dayton Women’s Rights Alliance or email daytonwomen@yahoo.com.
Joy Schwab has been fighting for women’s rights for 50 years and is a founding member of Dayton Women’s Rights Alliance.
About the Author