When people think of pro-life states, they’re likely to think of a red state in the south — Texas, perhaps, or Mississippi. But one of the most pro-life states in the country has been a big surprise: Ohio, the swing state in the midwest. In recent years, Ohio has banned abortion on babies with Down syndrome, introduced a bill that recognized preborn babies as human beings, and passed a 20-week abortion ban. And women must be given an ultrasound and, if their preborn baby’s heart is already beating, the opportunity to see it. The legislature is also currently considering mandating burial or cremation for preborn babies killed in abortion.
This has upset Christina Cauterucci, who wrote an op-ed at Slate, complaining that state lawmakers are too “extreme” for a purple state. And while Cauterucci makes sure to argue that most Ohioans — like most Americans — want abortion to be legal, she completely ignores that most polls have found that people favor heavy restrictions on abortion. So is Ohio truly extreme? Not in the least.
READ: Nearly 50 state pro-life laws passed in 2015
Polling is consistently clear: only a small number of Americans want abortion to be legal, on demand, and completely unrestricted. While the abortion industry and its advocates want abortion to be widely available and taxpayer funded, most Americans want abortion to be highly regulated and rare. A majority of Americans view abortion as morally wrong, want it banned after the first trimester except in very rare circumstances, and want it outright banned after 20 weeks. Most Americans also support other restrictions, like laws requiring parental consent, waiting periods, counseling, and informed consent. And after all, this is the standard for most of the world; very few countries have abortion laws as permissive as the United States.
So is it Ohio that’s extreme? Or is it the abortion industry? It looks like Ohio is, indeed, following the example of consistent polling. Are these pro-life laws? Yes, but they are laws that Americans support. And they are laws that are necessary.
Take Cauterucci’s ire towards the potential ultrasound law. While she acts as if pre-abortion ultrasounds are a tool invented by pro-lifers to humiliate abortion-minded women, ultrasounds are not only a “routine part” of what happens before an abortion, but are medically necessary, both before and after the abortion. The abortionist will need to determine her gestational age, so he can then determine which abortion procedure to use — if a woman is too far along, for example, she cannot take RU-486, and instead will need to undergo a dilation and curettage, or D&C, abortion — a much more invasive and violent procedure.
Showing the woman the ultrasound? Giving her the option of hearing the heartbeat? This is necessary, as abortion facility staffers have been caught lying to women about fetal development in order to push them towards abortion, rather than keeping the baby, even denying them the ability to see their baby.
Ohio is looking out for women; pro-abortion activists are just trying to make sure abortion is as widely available as possible.
Ohio is one of the most pro-life states in the nation, but that doesn’t make it extreme, nor is being pro-life a partisan issue. Approximately one-third of Democrats identify as pro-life, and there have been widespread calls for the DNC to reject its pro-abortion extremism.
No matter which way you look at it, Ohio comes out on top of this argument. Ohio may be favoring abortion restrictions, but the ones opposing them are in the minority. So again: who is really extreme here?
