Republican lawmakers in Ohio are once again attempting to restrict abortion access despite voters emphatically enshrining abortion rights in the state constitution, sparking fierce criticism from the Today in Ohio podcast team.
The latest legislative maneuver, House Bill 347—ironically titled “SHE Wins” (Share Health and Empower with Informed Notices)—would require a 24-hour waiting period before abortions and mandate that doctors provide detailed information about the procedure, risks, and alternatives like adoption.
Cleveland.com editor Chris Quinn said Republican lawmakers have repeatedly shown they consider themselves the lords and masters of Ohio residents, not people who serve those who elect them.
“The voters spoke loud and clear in enshrining a right to abortion into the Constitution because our legislators and our governor had repeatedly tried to stick it to women by taking away the rights over their bodies. We spoke loudly and clearly. We don’t accept that.”
The bill, applies to elective abortions but not to ectopic pregnancies, miscarriages, or medical emergencies. For medication abortions, doctors would be required to inform patients about the possibility of “reversing” the procedure, despite the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology stating that such claims “are not based on science” and represent “dangerous political interference,” Lisa Garvin noted.
The legislation is the clear defiance of voter will. Ohioans approved a constitutional amendment protecting abortion rights by a decisive margin. Quinn characterized the new bill as blatantly unconstitutional.
The podcast discussion highlighted a key misleading claim by the bill’s sponsors, who suggest the legislation simply aligns abortion with “standard informed consent for other surgical procedures.”
Nope, said Quinn. “There is nothing else in Ohio law that requires a waiting period. He’s lying about that.”
Garvin cited another problem with the bill: “I think what concerns me most is we don’t know what kind of educational materials are going to provide and who’s going to provide them.” She raised the specter of biased information from “crisis pregnancy centers” designed to dissuade women from seeking abortions.
Quinn warned that this could be just the beginning of escalating restrictions: “What’s next? That not only do you have a 24 hour waiting period, but you have to be in an institution for the 24 hours so they can bombard you with messaging to try and talk you out of it.”
Quinn said he wished even one Republican would stand up in the Statehouse and fight back, citing the will of the voters and declaring, “ ‘The voters spoke, we serve the voters,’ but they believe they’re the kings and they will force their will down the throats of people who oppose them.”
The hosts said Ohioans will have to rely on the courts to do the right thing when Republican lawmakers repeatedly do not.
Listen to the discussion here.
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