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Tell the Health Committee to Oppose the Ohio Abortion Ban
Last year, Representative Tom Brinkman (Cincinnati) introduced House Bill 228, a complete ban on safe, legal abortion in Ohio. On June 13 2006, the Ohio House Health Committee will hold a hearing on that bill. Both proponents and opponents of the bill will testify at the hearing. We need all pro-choice Ohioans to let the Health Committee know that they oppose this extremist bill.
Please send a message to Representative White, Chair of the Health Committee, and/or your representative who sits on the Health Committee to let them know you oppose this piece of legislation!
| Sample Letter for Campaign |
Subject: Please Oppose House Bill 228!
Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,
House Bill 228, the proposed Ohio Abortion Ban, is dangerous to Ohio women's health and safety. I ask that you work on my behalf and on behalf of Ohio women and families to derail this extremist, unconstitutional legislation while it's in the House Health Committee.
Banning safe, legal means of ending a pregnancy does not reduce the need or occurrence of abortion; it only endangers the lives of women and criminalizes medical professionals. HB 228 is the most extreme ban on abortion introduced in any US state legislature to date. Ohio lawmakers should not spend time or money supporting this unconstitutional bill. Rather, they should support common sense measures aimed at reducing unintended pregnancy like HB 588, the Ohio Prevention First Act.
Sincerely,
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Campaign Launched:
May 25, 2006
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Ohio House Bill 228 is a total ban on safe, legal abortion in Ohio. It would:
Make it illegal to perform ANY abortion in Ohio;
Increase the penalties for the offenses of unlawful abortion, unlawful distribution of an abortion-inducing drug, and abortion trafficking;
Enact the offense of facilitating an abortion;
Place felony penalties on an individual who attempts to coordinate an abortion for a minor; and
Make it a felony to transport a woman across state lines to obtain an abortion.
The U.S. Supreme Court has already ruled that abortion is legal (Roe v. Wade, 1973) and that no exception for the health of the woman in unconstitutional (Stenberg v. Carhart, 2000).
This law is a blatant attempt to undermine national law and endanger the constitutionally guaranteed reproductive freedoms of Ohio’s women.
Going back to the days when abortion was illegal will unnecessarily endanger women’s lives by forcing them into having abortions in unsafe conditions.
Politicians have no business prescribing health care.
The ban violates the sacred doctor-patient relationship by preventing doctors from using their best judgment how to treat their patients. It criminalizes physicians who do use their best judgment. This is recipe for disastrous health care results.
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