Columbus — The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled 6-3 overturning over 50 years of precedent in Roe and Casey, according to today’s new decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health. While the ruling applies to the 15-week abortion ban from Mississippi, this ruling from the high court returns the power to the state level to decide whether a person can legally obtain an abortion. The decision does not have an immediate impact on the availability of abortion in Ohio.
Pro-Choice Ohio Executive Director Kellie Copeland said: “The most important thing that Ohioans need to know today is that abortion is still legal in Ohio. There are nine clinics across the state and several in neighboring states that can safely and legally provide abortion care for patients. Today’s ruling is devastating, but it is not the end.
“If you want to know who’s to blame for this attack on our basic human rights, look at Governor Mike DeWine and members of the Republican Party. They have spent decades methodically passing legislation and litigating cases to dismantle Roe v. Wade and destroy protections for our bodily autonomy, access to abortion, contraception, and comprehensive sex education. In Ohio, they gerrymandered their way into power, and have defied the Ohio Constitution, the Supreme Court of Ohio, and the majority of Ohio voters in a desperate attempt to hold onto that power. They intend to rule Ohioans, not represent us. We must not submit to that tyranny.
“Mike DeWine, Dave Yost, and Republicans in the Ohio Legislature are doing everything in their power to ban all abortions with no exceptions. If they succeed, it will have a disproportionately harmful impact on Black, Indigenous, and other people of color, the young, people with disabilities, LGBTQ and non-binary people, as well as those living in Appalachia and other rural communities. But make no mistake, it will touch all of us. Though some people may be able to travel out of state to access care, and others may be able access medications to safely manage their own abortions at home, others will not be so lucky. What will happen to the person who has to continue a pregnancy against their will? Or the person who has a serious pregnancy complication in Ohio and it is not legal for their doctor to save them? People have already faced criminal investigations for miscarriages. And what about people who are struggling with infertility when In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) is no longer available in our state?
“Pro-Choice Ohio and our allies have fought, and will continue to fight, to keep abortion legal and accessible as long as possible, for as many as possible. We will fight to protect those who need abortion care, and those who provide that care from criminalization. We will never forsake them. The only strategy we are not willing to consider is surrender. We are the majority. We will prevail.”
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