Columbus — For a second time this month, women dressed in costumes from The Handmaid’s Tale appeared in committee in the Ohio Statehouse to protest an unconstitutional abortion ban. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted along party lines to pass Senate Bill 145, the Abortion Method Ban.
NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio Deputy Director Jaime Miracle testified: “Ohio’s state medical policy should be based on facts and science, not inflammatory rhetoric. This body should not be tying the hands of medical practitioners, forcing them to use procedures that are not the evidence based, medically preferred procedure just because it fits as the next opportunistic step towards banning abortion further in our state.”
Mallory McMaster, who is seven months pregnant, also testified. “My life has changed quite a bit since I had my abortion. I found the courage and the resources to leave my abusive marriage. I got a degree that allowed me to pursue a career I love, I remarried, and we bought a beautiful home with plenty of room for our growing family. Laws like SB 145 have been chipping away at abortion access for women in our state for several years. When these laws are passed, the range of reproductive healthcare options for women narrows, and experiences like mine become even more rare.”
The Handmaid’s Tale is a Margaret Atwood novel that is a current television series It takes place in a not-so-distant future where the United States has become a totalitarian society led by men and plagued by infertility. To solve that problem, child-bearing women are forced to become “handmaids” and birth babies fathered by men leading the regime.
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