{"id":236551,"date":"2020-12-19T09:25:44","date_gmt":"2020-12-19T15:25:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=236551"},"modified":"2020-12-19T12:30:33","modified_gmt":"2020-12-19T18:30:33","slug":"ohio-banning-telemedicine-abortion-governors-desk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/ohio-banning-telemedicine-abortion-governors-desk\/","title":{"rendered":"Ohio bill banning telemedicine abortions heads to governor’s desk"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In a <\/span>54-30 vote<\/span><\/a> late Thursday evening, the Ohio House of Representatives passed <\/span>SB 260<\/span><\/a>, a bill that would effectively ban telemedicine abortions in the state.\u00a0The bill\u2019s next stop is the desk of Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, whose signature would make it law. Although Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has not indicated his position on SB 260, the governor has supported high-profile pro-life legislation in Ohio, including the ‘heartbeat bill’ that he signed<\/a> in 2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

The bill, also known as the Telemedicine Abortion Ban, would r<\/span>equire that a physician be present<\/span><\/a> when administering the first of the two drugs in the abortion pill regimen that induce an abortion (mifepristone). Failure to do so could result in a fourth-degree felony, and continued violations of the law result in suspension of the offending physician\u2019s license. According to Planned Parenthood’s former research arm, the Guttmacher Institute, <\/span>19 states<\/span><\/a> have enacted similar bans.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

READ:\u00a0An OB\/GYN speaks: The \u2018no-test\u2019 abortion pill protocol experiments with women\u2019s health<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Local physician and the bill\u2019s sponsor, Senator Stephen Huffman, expressed concern about the effect increasing access to telemedicine abortion might have. \u201cTo me this bill is about safety,” he said according to <\/span>Cleveland.com<\/span><\/a>. “It\u2019s not about limiting access. It\u2019s about the safety of that woman.\u201d The US Food and Drug Administration’s safety protocol known as REMS has been suspended to allow remote distribution<\/a> of the abortion pill during COVID-19, which means women will not be assessed in person before receiving the drugs to rule out a life-threatening ectopic pregnancy, accurately date their pregnancy, or receive other important testing and bloodwork.<\/span><\/p>\n

Planned Parenthood <\/span>has reported<\/span><\/a> that the number of telemedicine abortions has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. The abortion giant has used the global pandemic as an excuse to <\/span>expand their telemedicine services<\/span><\/a>. Chemical abortions (the abortion pill) make up <\/span>39% of abortions<\/span><\/a> nationwide, and <\/span>standard safety measures have been eroded<\/span><\/a> since March in the name of increased access to abortion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n