Ohio Governor Signs Anti-Abortion Restrictions Into Law

Let's take a look-see at the anti-abortion provisions Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) signed into law Sunday evening, shall we?

1. The new budget, HB 59, will defund Planned Parenthood clinics. Great start!
2. It will also reallocate family planning funding to right wing "crisis pregnancy centers," a.k.a. facilities that tell damaging health-related lies—like the one that taking the morning after pill typically causes dangerous hemorrhaging, and lands women in the hospital.
3. HB 59 will withdraw funding from rape crisis centers that give clients any information about abortion services.
4. The new laws impose new and severe restrictions on abortion clinics, including preventing facilities from transferring patients to public hospitals after procedures, should patients need care.
5. In an especially creepy measure, HB 59 also requires doctors to give women who want an abortion information about the presence of a fetal heartbeat, presumably with a medically unnecessary ultrasound.

A recent Public Policy Polling group poll found that 52 percent of Ohio voters don't support the budget these new provisions are thrown into, specifically because of these attacks on reproductive rights. Isn't functioning democracy a magnificent thing?