Many Americans were moved by the story published by "Indianapolis Star", a weekly newspaper. A 10-year-old girl from Ohio, who had become pregnant by rape, was denied an abortion on Monday, June 27, just two days after the US Supreme Court had struck down abortion rights. She had surpassed the six-week legal deadline in this Midwestern state by three days. She was refused and had to travel to Indiana, which still allows abortion.
US media reports that many women have traveled from other states to Indiana to get abortions since Roe V. Wade. The number of calls coming in from Ohio and Kentucky is overwhelming clinics. In just a few days the number of patients from neighboring states has quadrupled, going from 5 to 8 patients per day to as high as 20 at times.
This may not be possible in the future, with Indiana having to ban or limit terminations of pregnancy starting at the end July. "It's difficult to imagine that within just a few weeks we won't have the ability to provide this care," Caitlin Bern, a columnist for the "Columbus Dispatch", laments.
The country's politicians were quick to respond: "A 10-year old girl is raped." She is forced to remain pregnant by the state and told to view it as "an opportunity". Iran did not experience it. It is not a hypothetical scenario. It happened today in Ohio," tweeted Gavi Betrup, Democratic candidate to the Ohio Capitol.
"A 10-year old victim of sexual abuse is denied an Ohio abortion because she was six weeks three days pregnant. It's crazy. She's ten years old," lamented Josh Stein, North Carolina Attorney-General.
At the end of April, Ohio lawmakers had already begun to consider banning abortions in cases of rape of young girls. Jean Schmidt, one state representative, stated that even a 13 year old girl who was raped could not have an abortifaction. She said that it was a shame that this happened. This woman has the opportunity to make a difference in this world, regardless of her age.
