Ohio House Republicans Want to Pit Your Abortion Provider Against You

35 Ohio House Republicans introduced an exhaustive anti-abortion bill yesterday that would require doctors to lie to women and force them to pay for unnecessary medical procedures, among other fun doctor-patient trust exercises.

House Bill 200 is maddeningly long — it’s like a boring yet infuriating self-help book for marginalizing women — so let us summarize it for you. If it passes:

All women seeking abortion would have to undergo mandatory ultrasound examinations that portray “the entire body of the embryo or fetus,” meaning that women who want abortions in their first trimester might be forced to get a transvaginal ultrasound. Fun fact: the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists opposes all types of mandated ultrasounds. But no matter! These Ohio bros know best.
Women would have to pay for these unwanted and unnecessary ultrasounds themselves, out of pocket. Perk: they could receive a photo of the fetus or embryo at no extra charge. Hey, that’s a better deal than you get at Disneyland.
Doctors would be forced to tell women classic anti-abortion fairytales, including The Fetus Who Felt Pain Before 20 Weeks of Pregnancy and Abortion and the Breast Cancer Fairy.
Physicians would also have to FESS UP re: how much they make from performing abortions, and disclose how much personal income they would lose out on if the woman decided not to get the abortion. Consumer advocacy at its best, you guys.
The waiting period for abortion would jump from 24 to 48 hours. Got a medical emergency? Too bad! No waivers for you under House Bill 200.
Doctors who don’t follow the rules could be charged with a felony and up to a $1 million dollar fine. Seems reasonable.

In other local anti-abortion fuckery news, the state’s budget, which Gov. John Kasich will sign by June 30, includes an amendment that would defund Planned Parenthood and force abortion providers to seek transfer agreements with private hospitals only — private hospitals, of course, are often affiliated with religious groups.

Who knew we needed so many rules and regulations to block Ohio’s women from accessing the health care they’re entitled to under the Constitution? Perhaps we need one more amendment for streamlining purposes: lock ’em all in a closet for 9 months.