COLUMBUS—The ACLU of Ohio opposes Senate Bill 145, legislation to ban the most common procedure to perform second trimester abortions. Under this bill, dilation & evacuation (D&E) would be outlawed and criminalized, despite it being a safe, medically-proven method recommended by the American Congress of Obstetricians & Gynecologists. The ACLU of Ohio will provide opposition testimony at the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday morning.
“Meddling politicians continue to substitute their judgment for that of Ohio women and medical professionals,” said Gary Daniels, chief lobbyist for the ACLU of Ohio. “By banning this procedure, elected officials seek to make abortion less safe and more complicated at the expense of their constituents’ rights,” added Daniels.
Ohio has already enacted 18 abortion restrictions since John Kasich became governor in 2011, all of which aim at shutting down clinics and preventing women from getting the reproductive health care they need, when they need it. Senate Bill 145 would erode abortion access in Ohio even further, by making abortion unavailable or less safe beginning at 14 weeks.
“SB 145 is unnecessary, intrusive, and burdens a woman’s right to obtain an abortion. Should it pass, we expect SB 145 will cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars to defend and ultimately be struck down as unconstitutional. Ohioans have grown weary of these repeated attempts to end all abortions and overturn Roe v. Wade in a state with serious and numerous other issues,” concluded Daniels.
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Read our written testimony of Senate Bill 145.
