***Press Release*** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 13, 2013

Contact: Adam Warren (614) 466-4583

Senator Turner Stunned by Anti-Choice Legislation

Bill would implement outrageous restrictions on women and doctors
COLUMBUSState Senator Nina Turner (D-Cleveland) was stunned by the introduction of House Bill 200, legislation that would impose a wide array of restrictions upon women seeking to make their own healthcare decisions. Women and their families have the right to make their personal healthcare decisions in a safe and supportive environment, said Senator Turner. House Bill 200 is an affront to that right. Taken together with the preposterous provisions in the state budget, the personal freedom of women in Ohio is under attack. House Bill 200, introduced by Rep. Ron Hood (R-Ashville) and cosponsored by 34 other Republican members of the Ohio House would impose an extensive set of new restrictions upon women considering abortions in the state, including: Require women to undergo an ultrasound prior to the procedure; Increase the waiting period to 48 hours from 24 hours; Restrict the ability of doctors to perform an abortion if the health of the mother is in danger; and Force abortion providers to tell patients that embryos and fetuses can feel pain and that having an abortion increases a womans risk of breast cancer. To force doctorsmedical professionalsto provide their patients with medically inaccurate information in the name of political ideology is unconscionable, Turner commented. According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, multiple studies have demonstrated that having an abortion does not increase a womans chance of developing breast cancer. Doctors that do not comply could be punished with a first degree felony and a fine of up to $1 million. These are personal decisions that should be made by a woman in consultation with her family, her doctor, and her God, Senator Turner said. There is no room for the General Assembly in that equation. The state budget, currently in conference committee, strips federal family planning funding from family planning clinics and creates new levels of red tape for ambulatory surgical facilities.