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Last week we saw just how invested Ohioans are in protecting access to abortion rights. With record breaking turnout for what would normally be a sleepy August special election, Ohio voters stood proudly for abortion rights and upheld democracy.
The massive 14-point margin of victory wouldn't have been possible without rural voters, a group largely written off by pro-choice advocates. But here's why rural voters showed up for abortion rights:
Rural communities are hit the hardest by abortion restrictions.
Millions of rural women, facing the challenge of "double deserts" – a county with no access to legal abortion plus little to no access to maternity care – are left with no options.
Today, 13 states have a complete abortion ban and four more states ban abortion at 15 weeks, or sooner. Even states that allow exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother are constrained by hazy legal language and no formal process to grant those exceptions, effectively creating a total ban on abortion.
And traveling to obtain an abortion can be hugely burdensome. In southern states, the average round trip for a patient seeking an abortion is 891 miles. That means traveling for multiple days, missing work, finding childcare, and the steep costs of traveling.
Anti-choice extremists in every state are creating a post-Dobbs world filled with threats of prosecution and interstate border checks, effectively running doctors out of town and straining a healthcare system that was already at its breaking point.
And the threat to rural women's health continues to grow, with a large proportion of new medical school grads saying new restrictive abortion laws influenced where they applied for residency. Obstetricians cannot work in an environment where they are threatened with jail time for providing standard care.
So now, seven million women live in counties with limited or no maternity care or qualified labor and delivery staff – which means less than half of all rural women have access to perinatal care within 30 miles of their homes. So not only is abortion care difficult to access, but so are pre- and post- natal care. All three contribute to the U.S. having one of the highest women and infant mortality rates in the developed world.
Rural voters turned out to protect their voting rights last week, and we hope they will turn out again in November so Ohio will send a message to the rest of our country!
We're keeping up the fight for abortion rights across the country. We are standing firm against the radical abortion restrictions, and we need you to stand with us. Can we count on you?
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Ashton Clemmons
North Carolina State Representative |
Ashton Clemmons is a proud North Carolinian and currently serves in the state house in district 57. She is an educator and has a bachelors, masters, and doctorate in education and has worked in some of the most underserved schools in North Carolina. Clemmons is a tireless advocate for her community and seeks to bring better education and job training programs, along with policies to protect health care, the environment and voting rights.
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Founded by former U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), the One Country Project is dedicated to reopening the dialogue with rural communities, rebuilding trust and respect, and advancing an opportunity agenda for rural Americans. Our mission is to ensure rural America’s priorities and values are heard, understood, well-represented and reflected in policy in Washington.
Your financial contribution supports our work to promote greater opportunities for rural communities.
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