Miscarriage of Justice 👶🏾

Saints, the dismantling of Roe v. Wade on the federal level earlier this year allows states to address abortions within their borders. In the Buckeye State,  the leaders that have worked to seriously limit the timeframe in which a preganant woman can end her pregnancy. Curently in Ohio, abortions are illegal after only six weeks of gestation.   Ohio lawmakers did not necesarily write this law in a way that explicitly stops women from receiving the necessary treatment for miscarriages or emergency care, but it can easily have that effect, nevertheless. 🧐

Ohio's heartbeat law states that abortion procedures are legal "when there is a medical emergency or medical necessity" whether or not the pregnancy could still be viable. However, in the months after Roe v. Wade was overturned when this law was in effect, there were numerous reports of doctors being unsure of what qualifies for this exception, leading them to delay care.

~NPR

Crucially, the tools medical professionals use to manage a miscarriage and the items they have to use to perform abortions are essentially the same; actually the medications and surgical options are identical. Regrettably, when a woman needs medical care after miscarrying, a doctor or pharmacist who believe that women is a patient is seeking an abortion might delay providing treatment   or  not treat her at all, because they don’t want to be prosecuted.👀

NPR explores this topic in depth. Take a moment and listen to the piece in its entirety.

Watch Night News will continue to deliver a Diaspora-inspired perspective on news, history, and culture to your inbox every night.  When women are healthy and thriving, our neighborhoods and communities benefit and so does everyone else. The draconian laws written by the Ohio state legislature strip a woman of her right to choose; it also robs them of necessary medical care when they are most vulnerable.