Release Date: June 25, 2022
Abortion is still legal and available in Ohio today, despite the Supreme Court decision in the Jackson Women’s Health Organization v. Dobbs case. Preterm is here providing abortions for anyone who needs our services, as we have been since 1974.
From our five decades of service, we know that abortion bans harm everyone. Abortion bans are based in systemic sexism and racism. We will never stop fighting against these bans and against these systems of oppression.
We demand a society in which all people can access reproductive healthcare with autonomy, freedom, and respect. Each of us should be able to live, work, and make decisions about our health and our future with unrestricted access to resources and support for abortion. It is beyond time for abortion to be liberated from legal barriers and funding concerns. Liberated abortion is available for all who need it — when they need it, wherever they need it — without shame or stigma.
Now is the time for everyone who supports abortion to say something. We are the majority and we are more powerful together. We need everyone to stand up and say that abortion is good, moral, and essential.
Looking forward, we cannot rely on national legal protections to secure abortion access. We need to ensure that abortion is protected and accessible in Ohio. Roe has always been an unsteady base for abortion access. It upheld the right to abortion, but fell short of ensuring access and support. But overturning Roe and taking away the rights we do have will only hurt the most vulnerable. We should be expanding and solidifying access – not ripping it away.
Ohio politicians are going to try to outlaw abortion very soon. But, today, abortion is still legal in Ohio. Preterm’s staff, escorts, and supporters have been committed to providing abortion services in Ohio for a half century, and we will continue to fight for an abortion future beyond Roe.
Sri Thakkilapati
Interim Executive Director