Senate Bill 157 Passed; Goes to DeWine for Signature Next Week

Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio
For Immediate Release: Wednesday, December 8, 2021
Contact: Aileen Day [email protected] Maya McKenzie [email protected]

Senate Bill 157 Passed; Goes to DeWine for Signature Next Week

Columbus, Ohio — Minutes ago, with a vote of 59-33, the Ohio House passed Senate Bill 157, a bill that could shut down all abortion providers in Southwest Ohio. Now this bill heads to Gov. DeWine's desk next week to be signed into law. SB 157 was originally a stigmatizing bill that sets out to create a law that already exists before an amendment was added, a TRAP law that would shut down abortion providers.

Statement from Kersha Deibel CEO of Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio Region:

"Abortion access is being attacked like never before. Right now, we're at a crisis point for abortion access in Ohio and across the country. Anti-abortion politicians have made it their job to bury abortion providers under so many TRAP laws that providing and accessing essential health care to Ohioans has become an obstacle course. While most Ohioans support access to abortion care, we continuously see our human rights stripped by anti-abortion extremists. Stripping abortion care from Southwest Ohio will cause havoc that disproportionately impacts our communities. This isn’t the end, and we will continue to fight—abortion is still legal in Ohio."

If the Planned Parenthood in Southwest Ohio and Women's Med of Dayton would be forced to close this bill would make Cincinnati the biggest metropolitan in Ohio without an abortion provider.

This legislation will be especially harmful to Black and Brown communities who already struggle to access basic health care in Ohio's public health institutions, including abortion, because of racist policies and systemic inequity. Selectively eliminating ties between certain public and private health care providers only segregates care and creates inequality. This could have lasting effects on our health system and patients for years to come.

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Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio supports advocacy for reproductive health and reproductive rights, including grassroots organizing, community education, and lobbying. www.ppao.org