Attorney General Mike DeWine recently received a proposal to amend the Ohio Constitution in such a way that abortion would be completely illegal and considered aggravated murder, punishable by 15 years to life in prison. At this time, DeWine is only responsible for determining the validity of the wording in the proposal. If he accepts it, then it would eventually go to the Ballot Board and the proponents would have to collect a significant number of signatures in support of the proposal in order for it to be placed on the ballot in 2017.
Ultimately, the chance of this proposition even making it to the ballot in 2017 is slim and it’s nearly impossible that it would pass the review process in order to determine its constitutionality. Regardless, the mere fact that it’s a possibility that abortion would be tried as murder is deeply concerning. We are supposed to be advancing as a society, but we’re continuing to repeat the same mistakes. It’s proven that restricting access to abortion doesn’t stop it from happening, but only forces women to find dangerous, life-threatening alternatives to get the abortion that they so desperately need. I can only imagine the horribly unsafe situations that women would be compelled to put themselves into if they were faced with the threat of prison.
Another very disturbing part of this proposal is that all abortions would be considered murder, meaning that there are no exceptions for those that are performed in order to save the life of the mother. There are many abortions, specifically those after 20 weeks, that are performed because carrying the pregnancy to term would kill both the mother and the baby. By aborting the fetus, at least the mom would be able to continue her life. Unfortunately, this proposal doesn’t exclude these abortions from the amendment, so they would also be tried as murder. These women are already struggling with the decision to abort their future baby; it won’t help anyone by adding the threat of prison to their already excessive levels of stress.
In addition to the problems that this proposal would add to these women’s lives, we also have to consider the greater implications. Prisons are already overcrowded, largely due to the War on Drugs. We don’t need to add to this overcrowding by imprisoning women for taking control of their bodies and their lives.
Whether or not you agree with abortion, it’s important to understand that there will always be women who will get abortions. The question that we must ask is if we want them to receive safe abortions or take the chance of killing both the fetus and the mother due to a lack of access to safe abortions. We are only making the situation worse by proposing to try abortion as aggravated murder, and it will ultimately end more lives than it will save because women will be forced to undergo dangerous, potentially fatal procedures in order to end their pregnancy.
We must keep moving forward as a society and this means allowing women to make choices regarding their own bodies. If we want to decrease the number of abortions being performed, we need to make contraception more accessible, as well as provide expecting mothers with more resources and options.
We must fight this proposal to make abortion aggravated murder in Ohio because it will ultimately create more problems than it will solve. Women don’t deserve to be imprisoned for doing what’s best for themselves. We need to stand by and support these women that have to make these difficult decisions regarding their bodies and their lives.
