An Ohio state lawmaker said that a pregnancy that came about after a woman was raped is an “opportunity” for the woman to decide how she will turn her rapist’s baby into a “productive human being.”
Republican State Rep. Jean Schmidt made the comments during a hearing for a bill she sponsored that would ban abortion in Ohio if the US Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade this summer, according to Insider.
At the hearing Democratic State Rep. Richard Brown asked Schimdt if a 13-year-old girl was raped by a “serial rapist” and got pregnant if she would be required to carry the baby to term.
“Rape is a difficult issue,” Schmidt said. “If a baby is created, it is a human life, and whether that mother ends that pregnancy or not, the scars will not go away, period.”
“It is a shame that it happens, but there’s an opportunity for that woman, no matter how young or old she is, to make a determination about what she’s going to do to help that life be a productive human being,” Schmidt added.
HB 598 criminalizes medication abortions and makes it a fourth degree felony to perform the procedure unless the mother’s life is in danger. But, the bill does not define what those circumstances would be.
According to Insider, HB 598 is yet to pass either chamber of the Ohio legislature. If it does, it will not go into effect unless the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade this summer.
