Columbus — Today, the Ohio Senate will be voting on Senate Bill 27, legislation that would require health care facilities to dispose of biological tissue following an abortion through cremation or burial.
NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio Deputy Director Jaime Miracle said: “This bill isn’t about making sure women have options, it’s about limiting which options exist. It’s about shaming women who choose to have an abortion and the medical professionals who provide abortion care, and it’s about putting abortion out of reach for individuals across our state.”
NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio strongly opposes S.B. 27. Medical facilities that provide abortion services handle biological material just like other medical facilities around the state. They contract with medical waste disposal companies that handle the material in accordance with Ohio Revised and Administrative Code. After finding that Planned Parenthood follows current law when dealing with this material, legislators who oppose access to abortion have decided to lodge unfounded accusations of wrongdoing and change the law, making it harder for abortion clinics to remain open in Ohio.
Miracle continued: “The State of Ohio is already fighting multiple lawsuits against other unconstitutional abortion restrictions. How can we sit here and talk about passing yet another bill which will waste even more taxpayer money while there are so many programs that are in need of additional financial investment? This legislature should focus on the real problems facing women and families across our state, rather than continue an unconstitutional witch hunt against abortion providers based on false information.”
Indiana and Texas have both passed similar restrictions on abortion providers, and both of these states have had their regulations blocked by the court as unconstitutional under the standards set by the 2016 Whole Women’s Health vs. Hellerstedt decision.
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