A 10-year-old girl from Ohio who got pregnant after getting raped was denied an abortion days after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, media sources reported on Saturday.
She had to travel across state lines to Indiana after a child abuse pediatrician in Ohio contacted Dr. Caitlin Bernard, an obstetrician-gynecologist based in Indiana. Ohio outlawed abortions on Friday after six weeks when Roe was overturned. The girl was six weeks and three days pregnant when Dr. Bernard was contacted, the Indianapolis Star, an Indianapolis daily, reported.
Roe v. Wade's implications
While abortion bans have not yet taken place in Indiana since Roe v. Wade's overturn, state lawmakers are pushing for the state to enact restrictions, Newsweek reported. A different report by The Hill state that an abortion law later this month has been given a special session scheduled later this month.
Many Americans have criticized the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization landmark decision that overruled Roe. Last month, even before the Supreme Court overturned the 1973 decision, a Gallup poll found that Americans' confidence in the court has sunk to a historic low, with only 25% reporting that they trust the court.
Gavi Begtrup, a Democratic candidate running for Ohio State House, wrote in what became a viral tweet about the situation that "the State forces her to remain pregnant and tells her to consider it an 'opportunity.' This isn’t Iran. This isn’t Gilead. This isn’t hypothetical." His tweet received over 335,000 likes as of Sunday morning.
GOP comments
Begrup was referring to statements made by Ohio State Rep. Jean Schmidt during an abortion hearing bill in April - where she said, in a hypothetical situation where a teenager was to be raped, that she would have the "opportunity" to help that child become a "productive human being," according to a report by Cincinnati.com.
REPORTER TAYLOR VANCE: So that 12-year-old child molested by her father and uncle should carry that pregnancy to term?MS HOUSE SPEAKER PHILIP GUNN: That is my personal belief. I believe life begins at conception.pic.twitter.com/LJU5aWhVfF
— Ashton Pittman (@ashtonpittman) June 29, 2022
Days earlier, Mississippi House Speaker Philip Gunn (R) responded to a Daily Journal reporter, who asked if abortion should still be illegal even in the case of a young girl being impregnated by one of her family members - to which Gunn responded: “That is my personal belief. I believe life begins at conception.”
Since Dobbs v. Jackson, many Democratic politicians and left-wing political activists have taken to social media to demand that Roe be codified into US law.