A 10-year-old child who became pregnant after she was the victim of rape was denied an abortion in her home state of Ohio.
Days after Roe v. Wade was overturned, trigger laws went into effect in several states, banning abortion even in cases of rape and incest. Ohio outlawed any abortion after six weeks into pregnancy, which is before most women know they are pregnant.
That law meant that the child, who was six weeks and three days pregnant, was not allowed to get an abortion. She had to travel to Indiana in order to receive care.
Dr. Caitlin Bernard, an Indianapolis obstetrician-gynecologist, got a call from a child abuse doctor in Ohio. Bernard was asked if she could help the child. Because Indiana's own ban has not yet gone into effect, Bernard agreed to help.
Bernard was able to provide an abortion for the young girl. But she expressed concern for the state of things and for what will happen in Indiana in the coming weeks. She told The Indianapolis Star that "it's hard to imagine that in just a few short weeks we will have no ability to provide that care."
The incident in Ohio has only further demonstrated the dire situation in the US in terms of reproductive care.
North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein tweeted about the law that prevented the child from getting care. "A 10 year old victim of abuse denied an abortion in OH because she was 3 days past 6 weeks pregnant," he wrote on Twitter. "This is insane. She's 10 years old!"
While many feel this case clearly demonstrates that protecting the right to safe and legal abortion is necessary, others feel the opposite. Republican Governor Kristi Noem of South Dakota, where abortion is now illegal unless "necessary to preserve the life of the pregnant female," told CNN that "every single life – every single life is precious. This tragedy is horrific. But, in South Dakota, the law today is that the abortions are illegal, except to save the life of the mother."
"I don’t believe a tragic situation should be perpetuated by another tragedy," she said. "There’s more that we have got to do to make sure that we really are living a life that says every life is precious, especially innocent lives that have been shattered, like that 10-year-old girl."
