An Ohio lawmaker who proposed an almost complete abortion ban received a hypothetical: A 13-year-old girl was raped and as a result becomes pregnant. Would the Republican bill force this teenage girl to have her rapist baby? Yes – and the resulting child would be an “opportunity,” politician Jean Schmidt said this week. “It’s a shame it’s happening, but there is an opportunity for this woman, no matter how young or old, to decide what she’s going to do to help this life be a productive one,” she said. Schmidt made the comment as she tabled Wednesday before a committee on her legislation, Parliamentary Bill 598, which would ban abortions other than those required to end life-threatening pregnancies. Schmidt’s bill is part of a wave of anti-abortion legislation that appears in Republican-controlled government buildings across the country as conservatives await a Supreme Court ruling that overturns or weakens Roe vs. Wade – an increasingly likely prospect as the court, by a conservative majority of 6-3, is considering a case involving a 15-week abortion ban in Mississippi, the Washington Post reported. “Lawmakers are waiting with bated breath,” Catherine Glenn Foster, president of Americans United For Life, a national anti-abortion group, told The Post earlier this month. “We are waiting to see Roe overturned or at least minimized? Yes. We expect a good to excellent result “. Follow up on new abortion legislation in all states That includes Schmidt. Her testimony before the Ohio State House Oversight Committee remained collective for most of Wednesday’s hearing, though lawmakers’ passions flared up as they debated the lack of an exclusion of rape in her bill. Vice President Richard Brown (D) began the debate by proposing the hypothetical example of a 13-year-old girl who was raped by Schmidt’s law: He would require the teenager to use the term ‘fetal criminal’, regardless of the emotional or psychological trauma it would cause her. “It’s correct?” Brown asked. “Rape is a difficult issue and it’s emotionally scarring άτομο for the rest of its life, just as child abuse does,” Schmidt said. “But if a baby is born, it’s a human life and, whether this mother ends this pregnancy or not, the signs will not go away – period. Smith’s response did not satisfy Brown. “I think this girl has rights, as much as this zygote has rights in your account. “This girl has rights and I do not think we can lose the rights of the person who was raped.” Schmidt did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Post early Friday. Her bill would make abortion in Ohio a fourth-degree felony punishable by up to 1.5 years in prison. The bill will also criminalize the use of abortion drugs. In order to achieve a legal abortion, two non-cooperating physicians must agree that the procedure was necessary to prevent death or the “serious risk of substantial and irreversible damage to a pregnant woman’s significant physical function.” But Democrat lawmakers said at Wednesday’s hearing that Schmidt’s bill would give doctors only one “affirmative defense” they could use to fight criminal prosecution after they testify. Republicans are introducing a wave of new abortion restrictions Schmidt’s bill is one of 22 recently introduced in legislatures across the country, including five other “prohibitions” – preemptive strikes that will take effect immediately or immediately after a Supreme Court ruling is overturned. Roe, according to The Post abortion tracker. At least a dozen states had already introduced such bans before this year’s legislature. Other efforts to curb abortion include banning procedures after 15 weeks and introducing a “Texas-type ban” so named because lawmakers there authorize individuals to sue abortion providers – a legal strategy to avoid action. courts, which have historically repealed similar law. The candidate for governor of Mich. GOP says rape victims should not have abortions: “The baby inside them may be the next president” Republican politicians have a history of making inflammatory statements about rape. Last month, Robert Reagan, a Republican seeking a seat in the Michigan legislature, said he was instructing his daughters to “lie down and enjoy it” if they were in a hurry. He was trying to make a comparison with abandoning efforts to validate the results of the 2020 presidential election. In 2019, Missouri lawmaker Barry Howis spoke of how most sexual assaults were “consensual rape” while discussing abortion legislation , although he later told the Post he was wrong. And in 2012, Missouri Representative Todd Akin’s campaign for the U.S. Senate. outraged when Akin, when asked about his opposition to abortion, said rape-induced pregnancies were “really rare”, adding that “if it is legal rape, the female body has ways to try to close it all.” . Twelve states have “activation laws” for abortions. What is? At Wednesday’s hearing, Schmidt rejected her colleague’s proposal to add a rape exemption to her legislation, saying they “fundamentally disagree.” He acknowledged that Brown’s alleged 13-year-old rape victim was injured and had rights. But, she added, “so does the baby inside her.” “Having emotional scars does not give you the right to take your life.”
