10-Year-Old Rape Survivor Denied Abortion in Ohio After Roe v. Wade Overturn

Protest against the overturn of 'Roe v. Wade'

As reproductive rights were taken away from most American women, they scramble to find other ways. The growing strain after the overturn of Roe v. Wade is significantly impacting the country’s remaining abortion providers.

One such case is of a 10-year-old girl from Ohio. She traveled all the way from Indiana to get her pregnancy terminated following sexual abuse.

Child Abuse Survivor Hailing From Ohio Seeks Abortion In Indiana

Dr. Caitlin Bernard, an obstetrician-gynecologist in Indianapolis, told The Cincinnati Enquirer the story of a mere 10-year-old. The doctor had terminated her pregnancy. She was referred to the patient on Monday by a child abuse doctor in Ohio after the state outlawed abortion following six weeks of pregnancy, in response to the Supreme Court ruling. The girl was six weeks and three days pregnant.

Although abortion is still legal in Indiana, Dr. Bernard worries that doctors won’t be able to provide the service there as state lawmakers are expected to further restrict or ban abortion during an Indiana General Assembly special session on July 25. “It’s hard to imagine that in just a few short weeks we will have no ability to provide that care,” she said.

Indiana abortion providers have seen an influx of out-of-state patients since the SCOTUS ruling. Dr. Katie McHugh, another Indiana ob-gyn, told the Enquirer that she has fielded “an insane amount of requests” from Ohio and Kentucky. The out-of-state calls have jumped from between five and eight a day to around 20.

President Joe Biden Calls Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade Decision A “Tragic Error”

Meanwhile, in Kentucky, a judge has temporarily stopped the state from enacting a “trigger ban” on abortion. Ohio clinics have filed a lawsuit against the state’s six-week ban as they find it unconstitutional.

President Joe Biden previously doubled down on his pro-choice support. He announced at a press conference in Madrid on Thursday that he will have news to share after meeting with some governors this weekend.

“The most important thing to be clear about is I believe we have to codify Roe v. Wade in the law,” he said. “The way to do that is to make sure the Congress votes to do that, and if the filibuster gets in the way, it’s like voting rights – it should be [that] we provide an exception to this … requiring an exception to the filibuster for this action to deal with the Supreme Court decision.”

Last month’s 6-to-3 ruling reversed nearly 50 years of precedent. It now gives states the power to pass their own laws around abortion. Since the decision, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri and South Dakota have already banned abortion in their states.

Since then protests have erupted around the country. Biden has spoken out against the ruling, which he called the “realization of an extreme ideology and a tragic error by the Supreme Court.”