Death of Roe/minor travel

The removal of a national right to abortion is resulting in children having to cross state lines for a life-saving procedure.

About

After the Supreme Court removed national protection of the right to abortion, many conservoid-dominated states have made it illegal to various extents -- in some cases, with no exceptions for rape or incest. This has resulted in minors needing to cross state lines in order to obtain abortions, often medically necessary because their bodies are in no way equipped to carry a child to term safely.

Most notably, a 10-year-old girl who was raped in Ohio had to travel to Indiana to have her pregnancy aborted. This event made human life absolutists look so bad that they had to furiously question the veracity of the story (including a house editorial in the Wall Street Journal and a supposed fact-check piece in the Washington Post), but it has been confirmed by subsequent events:

• confession and arrest of the man who raped her
• Indiana Attorney General threatening the doctor who treated her

It seems likely that many supporters of the Death of Roe decision believed that minor-rape pregnancies would be a Shirley exception, and are unable to accept the true monstrosity of the laws which are in fact being imposed.

Prominent conservoid Megan McArdle, while apparently accepting the veracity of this event, has argued that it isn't so bad because the rate of minors getting abortions in Ohio last year was only about one per week.

Links

News (to file)

• 2022-07-15
  • Republican senators block legislation to allow travel across state lines for abortion$
    • discussion: Nextdoor
  • Indiana AG warned over remark about abortion provided for a 10-year-old rape victim «An Indiana doctor who recently provided an abortion to a 10-year-old rape victim has sent a cease and desist letter threatening legal action against Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita. That comes after Rokita suggested without providing evidence that the doctor may have failed to report the abortion as required under state law.»
  • TDB: Heartless Ohio AG's Biggest Failure in the 10-Year-Old’s Rape Case «Before he questioned a news report of a 10-year-old rape victim being forced to go out of state for an abortion, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost should have at least checked the logs at Columbus Police Headquarters six blocks from his office.»
• 2022-07-14
  • Indiana AG Investigating Doctor Who Treated 10-Year-Old Rape Victim, Threatening Prosecution and Loss of Medical License «Attorney General Todd Rokita (R-IN) announced an official investigation into Dr. Caitlin Bernard, the doctor who treated a 10-year-old Ohio girl who sought an abortion after being impregnated by a rapist, threatening the doctor with potential criminal prosecution, loss of her medical license, and violations of HIPAA.»
    • • James Gleick said «Another way of putting it: Republican extremists are so determined to impose a regime of state-forced pregnancy that, when the existing laws aren’t harsh enough, they turn to extrajudicial threats and harassment.»
  • Indiana AG says state will look at license of doctor who provided abortion to 10-year-old rape victim «Rokita appeared on Fox News Wednesday and referred to Bernard as an “abortion activist acting as a doctor.” He accused her of having a history of failing to report abortions and that an investigation into the physician and her license is underway.»
    • @PJQuill@democracy.town «Imagine seeing that a 10 year old was raped and pregnant and deciding that the doctor caring for her is the real problem. #ThatsRepublicans»
  • Swalwell Stunned by Witness Claiming Rape Victims Who Get Abortions Aren’t Actually Getting Abortions: 'Wait...'
    • @MariaHill@democracy.town «Catherine Glenn Foster of Americans United for [Embryonic and Fetal] Life: "If a 10-year-old became pregnant as a result of rape and it was threatening her life, then that's not an abortion."»
  • Ohio’s top cop, Dave Yost, gets blasted for demeaning a 10-year-old rape victim: Today in Ohio «Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost publicly questioned the existence of a 10-year-old rape victim who had left the state for an abortion. After her rapist confessed, Yost said he stands by "everything he said."» When it turns out you're wrong, dig in harder...
  • Pol: Confirmation of Ohio rape victim's abortion story forces retreat from some conservative doubters Before the arrest, «Ohio’s attorney general, state elected officials and The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board, among others, all cast doubt on» the story's veracity.
    • «“Another lie. Anyone surprised?” Jim Jordan said in a tweet, which he deleted after the rapist had been arrested and charged.»
    • «South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem said in a tweet last week that “it looks like the story was fake to begin with. Literal #FakeNews from the liberal media.”»
    • «The Wall Street Journal's editorial board rebuked Biden for highlighting what it called an “unproven” story.»
    • «Fox News host Jesse Watters spent the opening segment of his show on Monday casting doubt on the case, saying “no one even knows anything about it” and calling the initial source of the story, Dr. Caitlin Bernard, a “press darling.” Emily Compagno, another Fox News host, on Tuesday said she found it “deeply offensive” that the media had to “make up” a fake rape victim.»
    • «The Washington Post also cast doubt on the case in an initial report, calling it a “one-source story.”»
    • «Conservative news outlet The Daily Caller said the story was “unverified.”»
• 2022-07-13
  • CoDis: Arrest made in rape of Ohio girl that led to Indiana abortion drawing international attention «less than 24 hours after Ohio's attorney general – an anti-abortion Republican – slammed the Indianapolis Star for first reporting the story, law enforcement officials in Franklin County, Ohio, arraigned a 27-year-old man in the rape of the girl.»
  • Axs: Ohio man arrested for rape of 10-year-old who had to seek abortion in Indiana «Gerson Fuentes was arrested Tuesday according to court filings, after he confessed to raping the child. He was charged with rape of a minor, which is a felony in Ohio punishable by life imprisonment.»
  • NPR: A rape, an abortion, and a one-source story: a child's ordeal becomes national news
  • Pol: Republican AG says he'll investigate Indiana doctor who provided care to 10-year-old rape victim «Indiana's Republican attorney general said on Wednesday that his office planned to investigate the Indiana doctor who helped a 10-year-old rape victim who crossed state lines to have an abortion.»
  • TDB: Jesse Watters Suggested 10-Year-Old Rape Victim’s Abortion Was a 'Hoax' Before Arrest «Hours before an arrest was made in the tragic case, right-wing commentators like Jesse Watters and Tucker Carlson dismissed it as "too good to confirm" or "B.S."»
• 2022-07-12 'Not a whisper' of evidence to show 10-year-old Ohio rape victim got abortion in Indiana: AG Yost tells FOX News «Update: The day after this story was published, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced a suspect confessed and was arrested for the rape of the victim.»
• 2022-07-01 Patients head to Indiana for abortion services as other states restrict care «Hours after the Supreme Court action, [Ohio] had outlawed any abortion after six weeks. Now this doctor [in Ohio] had a 10-year-old patient in the office who was six weeks and three days pregnant.»

Commentary (to file)

• 2022-07-15 When Fact-Checking Goes Wrong: the Pregnant 10-year Old (video, 12:52, Rebecca Watson)
• 2022-07-14
  • Let's talk about benefits and Republicans telling you who they are.... (video, 6:53, Beau of the Fifth Column)
  • Let's talk about a 10-year-old, journalism, and misinformation.... (video, Beau of the Fifth Column)