A 10-year-old Ohio girl was forced to travel out of state for an abortion after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last week.
Dr. Caitlin Bernard, an obstetrician-gynecologist in Indianapolis, told the Indianapolis Star that she was contacted by a child abuse doctor in Ohio seeking help for the 10-year-old who was six weeks and three days pregnant.
The girl was unable to get the procedure done in Ohio because after the US Supreme Court ended federal protections for abortion rights, the state’s ‘Heartbeat Bill,’ which bans abortions at six weeks went into effect. The Ohio Supreme Court rejected an emergency stay on the abortion ban Friday, which means it will continue to be enforced as the case is being reviewed.
For now, the procedure is legal in Indiana and abortion providers in the state are seeing a surge in the number of patients coming to their clinics from neighboring states like Ohio and Kentucky. However, that could change in a matter of weeks given that Indiana lawmakers have scheduled a special session for July 25th where lawmakers are expected to discuss measures limiting access to abortion in the state.
“It’s hard to imagine that in just a few short weeks we will have no ability to provide that care,” Bernard told the Indianapolis Star.
