Ohio denies abortion to 10-year-old child after Supreme Court verdict

WASHINGTON: Following the US supreme court verdict overturning the Roe vs Wade decision last week, the Ohio State denies an abortion to a 10-year-old girl who was six weeks and three days pregnant. The Hill reported that the patient is now on her way to Indiana to get the abortion.

Dr Caitlin Bernard, an obstetrician-gynaecologist in Indiana was contacted by a doctor who deals with child abuse after a 10-year-old patient who was six weeks and three days pregnant came for treatment, the Indianapolis Star reported.

Because of the abortion ban in Ohio, which bans medical procedures that begin after a fetus's heartbeat is registered, the patient was forced to go to Indiana, the Hill reported.

The obvious effects that the patients seeking this medical procedure experience are seen after Roe v. Wade was overturned. Cincinnati Enquirer reported that the Ohio Supreme Court on Friday denied an emergency stay of the abortion even while various groups have filed lawsuits that seek to curtail the state law from taking effect on Wednesday.

Ohio is one among several states that have rolled back access to abortion after the Supreme Court struck down the constitutional right to abortion. Pending legal challenges, certain laws have been put on hold.

WFYI reported that it is possible for Indiana to soon pass its own abortion law later this month with a special session scheduled for July, and the Legislature is expected to discuss the ban on the procedure.

The US Supreme Court abolished rights to abortion on June 24, 2022, after it overturned a historical 1973 constitutional right that was given to women called Roe vs Wade through which abortion was legalized across the states.

"The Constitution does not confer a right to abortion; Roe and Casey are overruled, and the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives," the ruling said.

Meanwhile in India, the High Court in Bombay passed an order on June 27, 2022, which granted access to a 16-week pregnant minor, who was the victim of sexual abuse, to undergo a procedure to terminate the pregnancy.

Justice Urmila Joshi Phalke and Justice AS Chandurkar of the Bombay High Court bench noted in an order, "She contended that said pregnancy is unwanted. Admittedly, she cannot be forced to give birth to a child. As observed by the Honourable Supreme Court that it is the right of a woman to have a reproductive choice. She has a choice to give birth to the child or not."