Ohio Bill Requires Women to Get a Permission Slip from a Man Before Having an Abortion

What is happening to a woman’s right to choose? Ohio republican representative John Adams has introduced a bill that if passed, will require all Ohio women to obtain written notice from the father of the fetus before an abortion can be legally performed.

Supporters of the bill claim that it gives fathers a say in whether or not an abortion can take place. However, the wording of the bill specifically places the final decision solely with the father. The bill does not say that the father must be notified about an abortion. The bill specifically says that, “no person shall perform or induce an abortion on a pregnant woman without the written informed consent of the father of the fetus”. The father must put in writing that he consents to the abortion in order for the abortion to be legally performed under this bill. This gives the father of the baby the sole choice as to whether or not an abortion will be performed. If the father of the baby does not put it in writing that he agrees with the abortion, then the woman’s right to choose is taken away and the abortion cannot be legally performed according to the wording of the bill. This bill takes away a woman’s right to choose and places the decision solely with the man.

The idea that the bill gives the father rights is a clever disguise. This propaganda is very manipulative. Generally in America when we hear that a bill will enable individuals to have rights we are collectively in favor. The general school of thought is something along the lines of: restricting rights is bad, more rights are good. This bill takes away women’s rights and hands them off to men. This bill is not a progressive step in the right direction.

The proposal of this bill is demeaning and dangerous for all women. It is amazing that in 2007 we have a man sitting in a position of power in the government who is actually proposing that women need to obtain a written permission slip from a man before having an abortion performed. Some of the degrading ideas within the bill include:

“No person shall cause a man to believe that the man is the father of a fetus for the purpose of obtaining the consent required by division (B)(1) or (2) of this section, if the person knows that the man is not the father of the fetus.”

This bill is so outrageous, one wonders why Mr. Adams didn’t just write the above like this, “no woman can trick a pregnancy-phobic man into believing that he is the father in order to get that much needed permission slip.”

So what happens to a woman who wishes to have an abortion that has been raped or is a victim of incest? The bill stipulates that in order for the abortion to be performed the woman must prove that she was raped showing, “a copy of a police report or a complaint, indictment, information, or other court document that gives the person who is to perform or induce the abortion reasonable cause to believe that the woman became pregnant as the result of rape or incest”. According to the bill, a woman can’t just say that she was raped; she must provide legal documentation of her rape in order to have an abortion.

In situations where there is a question of paternity, a woman must determine specifically who the father is through paternity testing and then still obtain written consent from the man in order for a doctor to legally perform the abortion. The proposal that a woman needs a man’s written consent before getting a legal abortion is both absurd and frightening.

Additionally, under this bill any woman who obtains an abortion without the written consent of the father will be convicted of “abortion fraud” which will be a misdemeanor of the first degree. If a woman is convicted of “abortion fraud” twice then she will be facing felony charges.

This bill strips away a woman’s right to choose in a ridiculous and humiliating way. This bill specifically and dangerously takes away a woman’s reproductive rights and right to choose. Feel free to voice your opinions by contacting John Adams, the creator of the bill. The contact information for John Adams is:

77 S. High St
12th Floor
Columbus, OH 43215-6111
Telephone: (614) 466-1507
Fax : (614) 719-3978
Email Address: district78@ohr.state.oh.us.

 

Stay informed about all government issues and proposed bills. Voice your opinion on this bill and support women’s reproductive rights. Putting restrictions on women’s reproductive rights puts women in danger of getting abortions illegally, which is unsafe and could result in unnecessary deaths.

Sources:

127^th Ohio General Assembly http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/bills.cfm?ID=127_HB_287

The Ohio House of Representatives, Republican John Adams, http://www.house.state.oh.us/jsps/MemberDetails.jsp?DISTRICT=78