Skip to main content

To: Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost

Ohio: Abortion Is Essential Health Care!

People decide to end their pregnancies for a complex constellation of reasons that include the impact of pregnancy and birth on their health and ability to work, and strained economic circumstances. These are conditions that do not go away—and are likely worsened—during a pandemic. Denying or delaying abortion care places a burden on patients, their families, and the health care system, and will have profound and lasting consequences. Patients presenting for time-sensitive care, including abortion care, need timely access to treatment, even during this pandemic. Forcing patients in Ohio to seek care in neighboring states at this time is reckless and goes against all of the official recommendations by Ohio Governor DeWine and Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton.

Attorney General Yost needs to follow the lead of Washington and Massachusetts, two states whose leaders explicitly stated that abortion care was essential health care.

Why is this important?

Abortion care is a time-sensitive medical procedure that cannot be significantly delayed without profound consequences. As part of the continuum of pregnancy care, abortion is provided for almost one in five pregnancies in the United States. Ohioans are continuing to rely on their trusted community abortion providers during the coronavirus crisis, and Ohio’s elected officials should not stand between patients and their doctors.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, along with several other medical organizations, issued a statement calling abortion "...an essential component of comprehensive health care" and that the "...consequences of being unable to obtain an abortion profoundly impact a person’s life, health, and well-being."

Tell the attorney general to stop playing political games with the reproductive health care of Ohioans.

Partner

Updates

2020-03-24 18:57:21 -0400

1,000 signatures reached

2020-03-24 17:42:51 -0400

500 signatures reached

2020-03-24 15:55:16 -0400

100 signatures reached

2020-03-24 15:49:49 -0400

50 signatures reached

2020-03-24 15:46:08 -0400

25 signatures reached

2020-03-24 15:45:18 -0400

10 signatures reached