Akron — With Ohio election polls closed and most results in, Pro-Choice Ohio Executive Director Kellie Copeland released the following statement:
“Tonight’s outcome was difficult, but the work continues. We will never stop fighting for the 10-year-old girl who was raped and had to leave Ohio to have an abortion. Or for the woman who wanted an abortion but is now carrying a pregnancy against her will because she was unable to leave the state. Or the trans person who wants to have a child, but is afraid they won’t be able to get the care they need in Ohio if they face a pregnancy complication. We will build an Ohio where everyone can make their own reproductive health care decisions. Ohioans deserve a state where everyone who needs an abortion for any reason can get one safely, legally, and locally without stigma, shame or political interference.
“We are so grateful that voters elected Emilia Sykes, our first endorsed candidate for federal office, and former Pro-Choice Ohio intern, to Congress. She is an expert in public health and has long been a reproductive justice champion. She ran an incredible campaign. Her victory is a shining star on an otherwise dark night.
“I am also extremely proud of our endorsed candidates, like Nan Whaley and Cheryl Stephens, because they bravely challenged the most callous and corrupt politicians in Ohio history. They stayed the course and never wavered.”
Pro-Choice Ohio is one of several groups keeping an eye on the post-election legislative session and the possibility of a new abortion ban bill being brought forward in the remaining weeks of 2022.
On lame duck, Copeland said: “Anti-choice politicians are planning to once again ban abortion and impose the cruelty of forced birth on Ohioans, despite witnessing the way we suffered before a court temporarily blocked the six-week ban. We are working to mobilize pro-choice Ohioans to tell their state legislators ‘We will not go back, not now, and never again.’”
Every candidate endorsed by our organization was screened by our staff and approved by the Pro-Choice Ohio board. Find the full list on our website: https://prochoiceohio.org/endorsements/
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