CLEVELAND -- Once a woman has made the decision to end a pregnancy, she needs access to safe, legal abortion care in her community. Period. Bodily autonomy is a human right and has a powerful impact on women’s health, educational attainment, career trajectory, and ability to obtain and preserve economic security.

Two recent developments jeopardize abortion access like never before. First, anti-choice conservatives have succeeded in their decades-long quest to capture the majority of the U.S. Supreme Court. With the confirmations of Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch, President Donald Trump has reshaped our nation’s highest court in a way that has opened the door to gutting or overturning Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion in 1973.

Second, Mike DeWine, who has said he would sign the six-week abortion ban, was elected governor of our state.

Kellie L. Copeland is executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio.

What does this mean for abortion access in Ohio?

It means that we can no longer rely on the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the decades-long precedent of Roe, which has kept abortion legal, though, sadly, not always accessible, due to bans on public funding and hundreds of other restrictions that have been enacted to block people from accessing the abortion care they need.

“Oh, that bill is unconstitutional so the courts will block it,” is no longer a true statement. It means that in Ohio we should not look to the governor’s office for a reasonable response to abortion bans.

“Oh, the governor will veto that,” has lost any relevance with the election of DeWine, not that it had much under Gov. John Kasich, who previously vetoed the six-week ban but enacted 20 other restrictions on reproductive health care during his eight-year term.

In addition to the six-week ban, there are numerous other restrictions under consideration at the Ohio Statehouse, each with the same ultimate purpose: create a path for the U.S. Supreme Court to outlaw abortion. Prior to Kavanaugh’s confirmation, similar measures enacted in other states were ruled unconstitutional in lower federal courts because they violate the right of privacy and the right of patients’ self-determination over their medical care. At Trump’s newly shaped U.S. Supreme Court, those precedents could no longer matter.

The decision over whether our communities would have access to safe and legal abortion care now rests squarely on the shoulders of state legislators. If they pass legislation banning abortion, they must be ready to accept full responsibility for the consequences of their actions. They can no longer pass off responsibility to the governor or the courts.

The six-week abortion ban before the Ohio Senate would effectively outlaw abortion and criminalize physicians. More than 20,000 people choose to have an abortion in Ohio each year, and seven in 10 Americans support Roe v. Wade. Banning this medical procedure is out of touch with Ohio values.

The six-week ban would block access to safe, legal abortion care before most women even know they’re pregnant. If you assume a ban like this would provide any exceptions for survivors of rape or incest, or would protect the health of the woman, guess again.

If this bill becomes law, doctors who provide their patients with abortion care, regardless of the patient’s circumstances or health, would face severe criminal penalties, including incarceration. One can easily imagine the exodus of qualified OB-GYNs from Ohio if our state forces them to practice medicine with that hanging over their heads. The resulting shortage of physicians would exacerbate Ohio’s alarmingly poor maternal health outcomes.

As Ohio legislators consider whether they will pass the six-week ban, and ultimately try to override outgoing Gov. Kasich’s veto, individual state legislators have more power over the future of abortion access than ever before. The implications of their decisions are serious. Forcing a woman to continue a pregnancy against her will is dangerous, especially for low-income women and women of color who are already subject to inadequate health care access.

The Ohio Senate should reject the six-week ban, along with other pending bills that would further restrict abortion access. They should trust Ohioans to make our own reproductive health care decisions. We know what’s best for ourselves and our families.

Kellie L. Copeland has served as executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio since 2002 and is a proud member of First Grace United Church of Christ.

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