The Abortion Fund of Ohio (AFO) launched the “Legal Access Program” on February 3rd, which would undermine parental rights in Ohio. This program aims to help minors get abortions without parental consent and provide free legal guidance, case management, and linking patients with pro bono attorneys.
An unemancipated minor in Ohio under 18 years old may not obtain an abortion unless one of her parents or her guardian has given written consent or she obtains a court order known as a judicial bypass, in which case the judge authorizes the procedure. The Legal Access Program is Ohio’s first judicial bypass program.
In 2011 former Governor John Kasich (R) signed House Bill (HB) 63, a pro-life measure that strengthened parental consent laws and ensured parents have involvement in their child’s life decisions. HB 63 increased the standards for judges approving a minor’s petition to have an abortion without first obtaining written consent from her parents. This legislation helps to prevent judges from rubber-stamping these requests without first determining that minors understand the potential physical and emotional consequences of their decisions.
To obtain a judicial bypass in Ohio, a minor must file a specific application at the juvenile court in the county where they live or in a neighboring county. The judge will consider a variety of factors involved in the situation, including whether the minor has given informed consent to an abortion, is the minor mature, is the minor emancipated, and is the abortion in the best interests of the minor.
The AFO is trying to undermine these parental safeguards by helping minors go around them with legal advice to get an abortion against their parents’ wishes.
AFO claims that Ohioans’ rights to abortion are being restricted, and this program is a step towards defending those rights.
“While our coalition works concurrently to secure explicit abortion access in Ohio’s constitution, we’re preparing to defend our communities from the senseless attacks from prosecutors and legislators alike,” interim executive director Maggie Scotece said.
According to Ohio Right for Life, there are over 120 pro-life pregnancy resource centers that offer the same support claimed by the AFO.
“Abortion is the purposeful killing of the innocent life in the womb, meaning that AFO is solely dedicated to funding killing the innocent while offering nothing to care for women in need. Contrast that to work done by thousands of pro-life pregnancy resource centers nationwide, over 120 of them being in Ohio. Pro-life pregnancy centers offer long-term financial support, counseling, clothing, shelter, and so much more for women that come to them, including post-abortive women,” Communications Director Elizabeth Marbach told The Ohio Star.
AFO also has links to websites like plancpills.org directly on their homepage. Plancpills.org encourages women to order the abortion pill illegally from Mexico and tells them that it is safe to take up to 13 weeks of pregnancy, despite the FDA only approving it through 10 weeks.
“Not only are organizations like AFO robbing innocent human lives of their inherent right to life, but they are also endangering women,” Marbach told The Star.
Ohio’s largest Christian public policy organization, Center for Christian Virtue (CCV), told The Star that “Lawyers are supposed to help their clients, not harm them.”
“By encouraging minors to contact them for assistance obtaining an abortion, AFO is exposing young girls who may be victims of sex trafficking or another predatory situation to more harm and aiding their assailant by destroying the evidence of their abuse–the preborn child,” CCV legislative liaison Nilani Jawahar told The Star.
In 2019 Ohio lawmakers passed the “heartbeat bill,” which bans abortion after six weeks of pregnancy. The law went into effect the same day the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on June 24th last year. In mid-September, a judge in Hamilton County blocked the law. Ohio’s Republican Attorney General Dave Yost has begun the appeals process, and the case will likely go to the state Supreme Court.
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Hannah Poling is a lead reporter at The Ohio Star and The Star News Network. Follow Hannah on Twitter @HannahPoling1. Email tips to [email protected]
Photo “Abortion Protesters” by Becker1999. CC BY 2.0.
