SB 145 would ban the most common method of abortion after the first trimester. Under this bill, doctors who perform an abortion using dilation & evacuation (D&E), a safe and medically-proven procedure, would be guilty of a fourth degree felony.
This legislation includes a narrow exception, allowing a doctor to use the banned D&E procedure if necessary to save a woman’s life or prevent her from experiencing imminent and irreversible bodily harm. There are no exceptions in the bill for rape, incest or mental health concerns.
Jurisdiction/Legislation Level
State
LCS Legislation Status
https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/legislation-status?id=GA132...
Our Take on This Bill
The ACLU of Ohio opposes this invasive and unconstitutional attack on abortion access in Ohio. SB 145 was written using deliberately inflammatory language, and was designed to prevent a woman from obtaining safe and legal reproductive health care.
D&E is a common, safe, and medically-proven procedure. Decisions about a woman’s health care should be based on medical expertise and her individual circumstances. Outlawing and criminalizing D&E jeopardizes women’s health and inappropriately inserts politics into the patient-provider relationship.
For more than four decades, the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly reaffirmed a woman’s right to choose abortion prior to viability. Courts have consistently struck down laws that would have banned the most common method of abortion at any stage of pregnancy. Defending this clearly unconstitutional law in court would likely cost tax payers hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not more.
Bill Status
Introduced in the Senate on 5/4/17
Referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee on 5/10/17
Received Committee hearings on 6/13/17, 6/20/17, 6/27/17
Passed out of the House Community & Family Advancement Committee on 6/27/17
Passed the Senate on 6/28/17
Referred to the House Criminal Justice Committee on 9/12/17
Committees
Criminal Justice (H), Judiciary (S)
