The Compassionate Assistance for Rape Emergencies Act will ensure that all rape survivors get access to emergency contraception (aka the morning after pill or Plan B) in hospital emergency rooms in Ohio, to prevent a pregnancy from occurring following the sexual assault. It will also require the hospital to give the survivor information about the possible transmission of sexually transmitted infections and be given any preventative treatment for those infections.

In a 2007 study, the NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio Foundation found that almost 20% of hospitals in Ohio did not guarantee access to emergency contraception for rape survivors. This is totally unacceptable. We need to make sure that survivors get comprehensive medical treatment following their assault no matter where they live or what hospital they go to. We believe all women deserve CARE.

The Ohio Prevention First Act will increase access to family planning services and medically accurate, age appropriate comprehensive sex education in Ohio.

The provisions of the bill include:

• Forbidding a health insurance company from limiting or excluding coverage for FDA-approved prescription contraception if the policy covers other prescription drugs or devices.
• Requiring sex education classes to provide students with medically accurate information about abstinence, contraception and condom use as ways to prevent unintended pregnancy and STD's including HIV/AIDS.
• Creating a teen pregnancy prevention state task force that would recommend medically accurate and scientifically proven effective programs for reducing Ohio's teen pregnancy rate.
• Requiring a pharmacy to dispense any prescribed drug, devise, or over-the-counter medication in stock without delay, consistent with the normal time frame.
• Ensuring that sexual assault victims have access to emergency contraception and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases in all hospital emergency rooms.
• Requiring the Department of Health to create and make available on their website, materials to educate medical professionals and the general public about emergency contraception.

The Ohio Prevention First Act will increase access to family planning services and medically accurate, age appropriate comprehensive sex education in Ohio.

The provisions of the bill include:

• Forbidding a health insurance company from limiting or excluding coverage for FDA-approved prescription contraception if the policy covers other prescription drugs or devices.
• Requiring sex education classes to provide students with medically accurate information about abstinence, contraception and condom use as ways to prevent unintended pregnancy and STD's including HIV/AIDS.
• Creating a teen pregnancy prevention state task force that would recommend medically accurate and scientifically proven effective programs for reducing Ohio's teen pregnancy rate.
• Requiring a pharmacy to dispense any prescribed drug, devise, or over-the-counter medication in stock without delay, consistent with the normal time frame.
• Ensuring that sexual assault victims have access to emergency contraception and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases in all hospital emergency rooms.
• Requiring the Department of Health to create and make available on their website, materials to educate medical professionals and the general public about emergency contraception.

To recognize the week of January 22-28, 2012 as Reproductive Rights Awareness Week to encourage public awareness, conversation, and support for reproductive rights and justice.

To recognize the week of January 22 - 28, 2012 as Reproductive Rights Awareness Week to encourage public awareness, conversation, and support for reproductive rights and justice.

Read Sponsor Testimony:

• Representative Ron Young (R-Leroy Township)
• Representative Lynn Slaby (R- Summit County)

Read Proponent Testimony:

• Stephanie Krider, Director of Legislative Affairs, Ohio Right to Life

Bill Summary:
This bill would revise the procedure that minors must go through if they cannot get the consent of one of their parents before they get an abortion. This process is known as judicial bypass, and is already an onerous process for young women needing an abortion. This bill would make this an even more difficult process to navigate by requiring the following:

• the judge must "specifically inquire about the minor's understanding of the possible physical and emotional complications of abortion and how the minor would respond if the minor experienced those complications after the abortion (this reinforces the unscientific notion that anti-choice organizations are trying to push that abortion causes mental disorders, which has not been proven by medical research);
• the judge must "specifically inquire about the extent to which anyone has instructed the minor on how to answer questions and on what testimony to give at the hearing (potentially breaking lawyer-client confidentiality rules);
• it also requires the judge to use a higher level of evidence to base his/her ruling on, rather than giving them the right to make a judgment based on his/her understanding of the case and facts on hand.

Minors who are able to go to their parents and tell them about their pregnancy and discuss their options do in-fact do that, more than 60% of minors in states where parental consent or notification is not required still involve their parent in the decision. The minors who cannot tell their parents have good reasons why they can't, and the Judicial Bypass process is set up to protect those minors from harm. We cannot allow anti-choice legislators to continue these political stunts that put women's lives at risk, no one should try to score political points by gambling with other people's health and lives.

This bill would revise the procedure that minors must go through if they cannot get the consent of one of their parents before they get an abortion. This process is known as judicial bypass, and is already an onerous process for young women needing an abortion. This bill would make this an even more difficult process to navigate by requiring the following:

• the judge must "specifically inquire about the minor's understanding of the possible physical and emotional complications of abortion and how the minor would respond if the minor experienced those complications after the abortion (this reinforces the unscientific notion that anti-choice organizations are trying to push that abortion causes mental disorders, which has not been proven by medical research);
• the judge must "specifically inquire about the extent to which anyone has instructed the minor on how to answer questions and on what testimony to give at the hearing (potentially breaking lawyer-client confidentiality rules);
• it also requires the judge to use a higher level of evidence to base his/her ruling on, rather than giving them the right to make a judgment based on his/her understanding of the case and facts on hand.

Minors who are able to go to their parents and tell them about their pregnancy and discuss their options do in-fact do that, more than 60% of minors in states where parental consent or notification is not required still involve their parent in the decision. The minors who cannot tell their parents have good reasons why they can't, and the Judicial Bypass process is set up to protect those minors from harm. We cannot allow anti-choice legislators to continue these political stunts that put women's lives at risk, no one should try to score political points by gambling with other people's health and lives.

Ohio bill S.B. 72would ban abortion at 24 weeks and would require viability testing at 20 weeks gestation. Like H.B. 7 and H.B. 78this bill lacks an adequate health exception. Specifically, the bill contradicts long standing jurisprudence requiring that any ban on abortion maintain exceptions that fully protect the life and health of the pregnant woman.

NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio supports the legal framework established in Roe v. Wade and does not oppose restrictions on post-viability abortion so long as they contain adequate exceptions to protect the woman's life and health. However, NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio opposes the ban proposed in OH S.B. 72because its health exception is dangerously narrow. This bill lacks an exception to protect a woman’s health against grave risks posed by a temporary medical condition, and goes even further to explicitly disqualify even the most serious of mental health conditions from the permitted exceptions to this ban.

Under federal health care reform bill, states are allowed to completely outlaw abortion coverage from plans that participate in the newly created insurance "exchange."Last session, S.B. 262 was introduced to do just that. We expect similar legislation to be reintroduced which would make sure that NO plans offered in Ohio through the new insurance exchange could cover abortion, EVEN IF THE WOMAN WAS PAYING FOR IT WITH HER OWN MONEY.

The majority of women in Ohio already have coverage for abortion services through their health insurance. Health care reform was supposed to INCREASE access to services, not decrease them. Unfortunately anti-choice legislators are attempting to hijack health care reform and restrict access to abortion care.

During the debate on health care reform conservative legislators and voters claimed that they didn't want the government making their health care decisions for them. Apparently this sentiment does not apply to women seeking abortion services.It appears that conservative members of the Ohio Legislature think it is OK for the State of Ohio to make medical decisions for women because women are incompetent to make those decisions for themselves.

This bill, and the companion bill in the Ohio Senate (SB 201) seek to defund Planned Parenthood and other stand-alone family planning clinics in the state of Ohio. Instead of funding these programs that serve more than 100,000 Ohioans a year, the funds will be re-allocated according to a legislatively proscribed process. This process may not result in the best provider receiving the money and could result in the wasting of millions of tax-payer money in Ohio.

This bill is a transparent back door attempt to defund Planned Parenthood and continue a national trend to attempt to put this valuable medical provider out of business.

Read the testimony of NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio Executive Director Kellie Copeland against this dangerous bill.

This bill, and the companion bill in the Ohio Senate (SB 201) seek to defund Planned Parenthood and other stand-alone family planning clinics in the state of Ohio. Instead of funding these programs that serve more than 100,000 Ohioans a year, the funds will be re-allocated according to a legislatively proscribed process. This process may not result in the best provider receiving the money and could result in the wasting of millions of tax-payer money in Ohio.

This bill is a transparent back door attempt to defund Planned Parenthood and continue a national trend to attempt to put this valuable medical provider out of business.

The 2011-2012state budget includes two abortion restrictions that were added at the 11th hour with no opportunity for any testimony. This legislation would bar local public employee insurance plans from covering abortions and bar public hospitals from providing abortions (even those paid for with private dollars) except in cases of reported rape or incest or to save the life of the woman.

The budget also included a provision requiring state funding for failed abstinence only sex-education programs in the state. This funding had previously been vetoed by former Governor Ted Strickland.

Read Sponsor Testimony:

• Representative Kristina Roegner

Read Proponent Testimony:

• Stephanie Krider, Director of Legislative Affairs, Ohio Right to Life
• Michael S. Parker, MD, Obstetrician/Gynecologist
• Denise Mackura, President, Human Family Research Center
  
• Denise Leipold, Vice President, Right to Life of Northeast OH/Life Education Fund
• Judith Ann Marie Schiveter, Bethesda Post Abortion Healing Ministry
• Jim Tobin, Associate Director, Catholic Conference of Ohio
• Anne Glaze
  

Bill Summary:

Ohio bill H.B. 78bans abortion at 24 weeks and requires viability testing at 20 weeks gestation. Like H.B. 7 this bill lacks an adequate health exception. Specifically, the bill contradicts long standing jurisprudence requiring that any ban on abortion maintain exceptions that fully protect the life and health of the pregnant woman.

NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio supports the legal framework established in Roe v. Wade and does not oppose restrictions on post-viability abortion so long as they contain adequate exceptions to protect the woman's life and health. However, NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio opposes OH H.B. 78because its health exception is dangerously narrow. This bill lacks an exception to protect a woman’s health against grave risks posed by a temporary medical condition, and goes even further to explicitly disqualify even the most serious of mental health conditions from the permitted exceptions to this ban.

H.B. 125 has been dubbed "The Heartbeat Bill” by its supporters because it would require doctors to search for a fetal heartbeat prior to performing an abortion. If a heartbeat is found, the abortion would be outlawed except to protect the woman’s health or to save her life.

NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio strongly opposes H.B. 125. This legislation is clearly unconstitutional and is designed to challenge Roe v. Wade and to invite the Supreme Court to allow states to outlaw abortion prior to fetal viability. This legislation, if upheld, would ban abortion at a point in pregnancy when many women do not yet realize they are pregnant.

This measure exposes the anti-choice movement’s true disregard for the health and well-being of women, and would virtually eliminate access to legal abortion in Ohio. It does not even provide exceptions for survivors of rape or incest or in cases of fetal anomalies.

This bill interferes with the doctor-patient relationship. This legislation requires doctors to perform tests to search for a fetal heartbeat, mandates the conversation she/he must have with their patient and further requires the patient to sign a statement that she has been told what that state has mandated. There is no exception to this requirement, even for women seeking abortion care due to health concerns, fetal anomalies, or in cases of rape or incest. Even if the abortion ban in this legislation is struck down by the courts, it is possible that this provision would be upheld, thus creating another permanent burdensome intrusion into the doctor-patient relationship.

Whoever violates division (E) of this section is guilty of performing an abortion after the detection of a fetal heartbeat, a felony of the fifth degree, though the pregnant woman is exempted.