In a move that can only be described as baffling to anyone concerned with women’s safety and well-being, Ohio Judge David Young recently put the brakes on the state’s longstanding 24-hour waiting period abortion law.
That means there will be zero enforcement of not only the waiting period before a woman can abort her baby but also the requirement for her to have at least two in-person doctor visits and for her physician to share with her specifics about the abortion procedure and developmental stage of her unborn child.
Don’t think too much about it. Just abort your baby. Quickly, get in there and don’t think about it.
That seems to be the statement here. What else could it be?
Let’s dig in.
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Young’s ruling leans heavily on Ohio’s constitutional amendment enshrining abortion as a right in the state, approved by 57% of Ohio voters last November. That percentage may make some feel that Ohioans heartily supported the amendment with a clear understanding of all the facts.
But that’s not necessarily the case.
That amendment was arguably ushered in by multi-millions in out-of-state pro-abortion spending and obfuscation by proponents of what was really at stake,
The pro-abortion movement worked to convince voters that care for miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies would be negatively impacted if the amendment did not pass.
The scare tactics seemed to work well.
With Issue 1’s passage, laws like the Heartbeat Act were overturned, allowing abortions for broad reasons, including socioeconomic factors. It also wiped out the Down Syndrome Discrimination Law.
That’s not all.
Laws against partial-birth abortion and dismemberment abortions, and the 20-week limit or Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act all disappeared.
The amendment can also block parents from influence over their child’s choice regarding abortion, contraception, sterilization, and transgender treatment.
It also tied the state’s hands from interfering with access to abortion, stating that Ohio’s government can’t act as a “burden” in the process.
But the 24-hour waiting period before an abortion was never designed as a burden. It was meant to give women time to think through the reality of this choice and everything that comes with it, after having been provided information to make an informed decision.
Tweet This: Waiting periods give women time to think through the reality of abortion and everything that comes with it.
For example, many women struggle with trauma after an abortion. And there are serious health risks that the pro-abortion movement sweeps under the rug. Many women have been lied to, and it’s appalling.
This ruling and others like it raise some important fundamental questions.
Why is informed consent a bad thing?
Who is harmed by a waiting period for abortion?
Why would a judge want to increase the number of abortions and expose more women to the possibility of trauma and regret?
And really, what is the real goal here?
Jor-El Godsey, president of Heartbeat International, made some astute points following Young’s ruling.
"The abortion lobby talks about rights, but really they want to be able to apply maximum pressure to close the sale of an abortion, even when that's not what she really wants,” he said.
Heartbeat is the largest network of pregnancy help organizations in the U.S. and globally.
“The amendment language pits common sense laws against a voracious abortion lobby,” Godsey said. “This judge, along with those of the past and those in the future, has little choice but to bow to the absolutism that Big Abortion demands."
Looking at those behind the legal challenge to the waiting period underscores the likelihood that Godsey’s speculation rings true.
Plaintiffs in the case include several Ohio abortion providers, the ALCU, and Planned Parenthood.
Young ruled that the pro-abortion plaintiffs had “shown, through clear and convincing evidence, that the challenged statutes burden, penalize, prohibit, interfere with, and discriminate against patients in exercising their right to an abortion and providers for assisting them in exercising that right.”
The Ohio Attorney General’s Office, which argued in favor of keeping the existing regulations in place, is planning to appeal the judge’s decision.
Let's pray the AG prevails, for the health and safety of Ohio women.
Editor's note: Heartbeat International manages Pregnancy Help News.
