John,

In Ohio this week, Republican lawmakers introduced a bill that would require healthcare providers to register every pregnancy with the state within ten days of detecting a fetal heartbeat, and to document how every pregnancy ends, including abortions, miscarriages, and stillbirths.

This bill isn’t likely to pass, but its introduction is bone-chilling. And while it would be a frightening development anywhere, it’s notable that it’s been introduced in Ohio, where voters resoundingly passed a constitutional amendment protecting abortion rights in 2023.

This is why we’re adamant that we must build pro-choice governing power in addition to winning critical ballot measures like Ohio’s—because local prosecutors, sheriffs, and state lawmakers still have enormous power over the lived realities of patients.

It’s not just Ohio: we’re seeing an increase in pregnancy criminalization across the country. In Georgia, a woman was recently charged with murder after allegedly taking abortion pills to end her pregnancy. Georgia’s abortion ban doesn’t allow for the prosecution of abortion patients, but that didn’t stop local law enforcement from pursuing felony charges, and she was questioned by police before even leaving the hospital.

In states across the country, laws that can be weaponized to criminalize pregnancy loss—many of them centuries old—are being dusted off and deployed against patients.

No one should endure the trauma of having their pregnancy outcome publicly scrutinized by law enforcement and politicians. Patients do not belong in handcuffs, and providers do not belong in jail.

Our best defense against the politicians who would put them there is electing pro-choice leaders at every level of government who are committed to using the full power of their office to protect patients and doctors.

Thank you for being with us,

Maris Nyhart
Communications Director
Vote Pro-Choice