Columbus — During this morning’s meeting of the Judiciary Committee in the Ohio Senate, sixteen women protested silently, dressed in red robes and white hoods. Inspired by women in Texas and across the nation, the protest was against Senate Bill 145, the “Abortion Method Ban.” The women were dressed in character from The Handmaid’s Tale, a dystopian story in which women are forced to give birth. Senate Bill 145 is an unconstitutional proposal that would block access to a safe and legal medical procedure that physicians rely on to terminate a pregnancy.
While state highway patrol and Senate officials discussed how to handle the Handmaids, they sat silently across the front row of the audience. Ultimately, the committee chairman began the committee and conducted the hearing with the Handmaids seated in place. Bill sponsors Senators Matt Huffman (R-Lima) and Steve Wilson (R-Maineville) stood at the podium and explained why they support stripping Ohio women of the right to a safe and legal abortion.
NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio Deputy Director Jaime Miracle said: “In The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood said, ‘Whatever is silenced will clamor to be heard, though silently.’ Today’s Handmaid protestors are here to show the members of the Ohio legislature that Ohio women are done being silently restricted in what they may choose for their own health care.
“Let’s call Senate Bill 145 what it is: part of a broader effort to end access to safe, legal abortion in Ohio. The General Assembly has already passed 18 restrictions that have been signed into law. These restrictions disproportionately impact low-income women and women of color. Our laws already create a system in which some women have the ability to exercise their rights to abortion care and some do not. It’s time to stop criminalizing women’s health care, interfering with the personal decisions of women, and substituting political agendas for the expertise of health care professionals.”
Later in the day, an additional abortion ban, Senate Bill 164, was introduced by Senator Frank LaRose (R-Hudson). His abortion ban would block women from terminating a pregnancy following a positive prenatal diagnosis for Down syndrome.
Handmaid’s Tale protest Facebook video
https://www.facebook.com/NARALProChoiceOhio/videos/1573053976052638/
Handmaid’s Tale protest Twitter photo
Bill sponsor is talking about how women cannot be trusted to make their own healthcare decisions surrounded by #OHHandmaids pic.twitter.com/7ZyrCe2ES6
— Pro-Choice Ohio (@ProChoiceOH) June 13, 2017
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