Don’t Be Fooled: Criminalizing Abortion is Punishing Women
For Immediate Release: March 31, 2016
“Donald Trump has said it, Ted Cruz has voted for it, and John Kasich has enacted it.”
Washington, DC –– Planned Parenthood Action Fund released the following statement in response to Donald Trump’s attempt to walk back comments about criminalizing abortion and punishing women:
Statement from Dawn Laguens, Executive Vice President of Planned Parenthood Action Fund:
“Donald Trump’s position is clearer than ever. He wants to ban abortion, criminalize doctors, and is threatening women.
“But let’s be clear: Donald Trump has said it, Ted Cruz has voted for it, and John Kasich has enacted it. The Republican Party’s leadership has been waging a full-out assault on access to reproductive health care. Women are already being punished for accessing safe, legal abortion. Because of restrictive laws that every GOP candidate supports, women are forced to travel hundreds of miles, risk losing their jobs, pay an exorbitant amount of money, and as we’re seeing in some places, take matters into their own hands.
“The more these Republican candidates show their true beliefs, the more voters they alienate.”
Today, Donald Trump said what Ted Cruz and John Kasich have worked to do, when it comes to preventing women from accessing safe, legal abortion. Just last winter at the 2015 Iowa Freedom Summit, Senator Cruz was asked whether or not he supported punishment for women who have received abortions and doctors who have provided abortion care. He dodged the question, and was asked a second time, “So you don’t support criminalization then?” His response was: “I am pro-life and I think we need to protect every human life from the moment of conception until natural death.”
Meanwhile as Governor of Ohio, John Kasich has enacted 18 measures that punish women, resulting in the shuttering of nearly half of the abortion providers in Ohio –– forcing women to travel to Michigan to access health care.
Background: Ted Cruz Has Made It Clear That He Wants to Ban Abortion -- Without Exception for Rape and Incest, And That He Wants to Overturn Roe v. Wade:
Wants to ban abortion, even in cases of rape and incest. According to the Houston Chronicle, “Cruz would allow abortion only in cases in which the mother’s life is in jeopardy: ‘Every human life is a precious gift from God and should be protected in law from conception until natural death.’” [Houston Chronicle, 10/28/12]
Ted Cruz said that if elected he will nominate judges to the Supreme Court who will overturn Roe v. Wade: “I will nominate judges committed to reversing Roe.” [Personhood Iowa, 10/5/15]
Has called Roe v. Wade a shadow in our nation’s history:In support of the 2015 March for Life, Senator Cruz called the anniversary of Roe v. Wade a “shadow in our nation’s history,” and reaffirmed his support for a 20-week abortion ban. “I remain a strong supporter of the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act....” [Texas Right to Life, 1/22/2015]
Cruz signed Georgia Right to Life’s personhood affirmation, pledging his support for a Human Life Amendment to the Constitution. [Georgia Right to Life Personhood Affirmation, Signed 7/27/15]
Cruz told Personhood Iowa that he would advocate for a constitutional amendment that protects life: “And to put an end to Roe once and for all, I will also advocate for a constitutional amendment that protects life.” [Personhood Iowa, 10/5/15]
Background: John Kasich Has Made Ohio a “Living Hell” for Women.
Governor Kasich’s spokesman has confirmed that Kasich hopes Roe v. Wade is overturned: “Like all real pro-life advocates the governor hopes that Roe is overturned.” [National Review, 8/20/15]
Kasich signed a medically unnecessary mandatory ultrasound law that would punish doctors for failing to comply: The 2013 budget that Kasich signed into law included a provision that requires that doctors test for a fetal heartbeat by giving a state-mandated, medically unnecessary ultrasound – even if women don’t want one, and if their doctor doesn’t recommend one. Then inform the patient seeking an abortion in writing of the presence of that heartbeat, and then provide statistical likelihood that the fetus could be carried to term. The doctor’s failure to do so would be a first-degree misdemeanor, carrying up to six months in jail, for the first violation and a fourth-degree felony, carrying up to 18 months in jail, for subsequent violations. [Toledo Blade, 7/8/13]
As a U.S. Rep., John Kasich supported legislation that would limit abortion, make it a crime for a minor to cross state lines to access abortion: “Among other anti-abortion bills he voted for during his House tenure were the Child Custody Protection Act, a 1998 bill that would have made it a federal crime to transport a minor across state lines for an abortion, and a 2000 ban on partial-birth abortions, an uncommon late-term procedure.” [FiveThirtyEight, 12/2/15]
Governor Kasich is no moderate, he is an extreme abortion opponent: “Laws signed by Kasich prohibit almost all abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, mandate ultrasounds before a woman can get an abortion and require abortion clinics to establish formal written agreements with local hospitals about emergency care — a provision that has been repeatedly modified to be even more restrictive and make it harder for clinics to comply.” [POLITICO, 2/5/16]
Under Gov. Kasich’s administration, nearly half of Ohio’s abortion clinics closed.
Think Progress:“In terms of the areas where high number of clinics have recently been shuttered, Ohio ranks second only to Texas. And Ohio isn’t stopping there. Aside from the proposed budget, lawmakers have also been advancing a 20-week abortion ban; the state senate approved that legislation just last week. For years, reproductive rights groups have been warning that Ohio is becoming one of the worst states for abortion access. At the end of last week, the Plain Dealer’s editorial board also sounded the alarm: “These draconian rules aimed at closing Ohio’s abortion clinics appear to be a thinly veiled effort to get before the U.S. Supreme Court a challenge to Roe v. Wade, the case that legalized abortion,” the newspaper wrote in reference to the proposed budget bill”.
Ohio women are driving to Michigan to access abortion: “Michigan abortion clinics see an influx of Ohioans...Ms. Chilean said she began to notice women coming from Ohio to the Michigan clinics about two years ago when Ohio law changed and banned abortions after 22 weeks.” [Toledo Blade, 3/23/14]
Kasich wants to ban access to safe, legal abortion: “When Kasich was asked about a provision in the 2013 budget bill he signed that prohibits rape crisis counselors from telling victims that abortion is an option he wouldn’t answer why he signed the provision into law. He said, “We certainly want to care. I actually believe in the exception of rape, incest, and life of the mother. Okay? But look, at the end of the day, I’m going to do what I think is a pro-life — you know, looking, being in a position of being pro-life. There’s nothing more I can say about it. I’ve said everything there is to say about it.” [Wonkette, 10/29/14]