COLUMBUS — On Friday, President Joe Biden signed an executive order to try to protect some abortion access in the country.
The executive order hopes to protect access to abortion medication, ensure emergency medical care for pregnancy loss and protect privacy for online reproductive care.
Biden mentioned a case in Ohio where it was reported a 10-year-old rape victim had to travel out of state for an abortion because she had passed the six-week mark of pregnancy.
Ohio’s Heartbeat Law makes it a felony for doctors to perform abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which can be as early as six weeks gestation before women know they are pregnant.
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“Just imagine being that little girl, 10 years old,” the president said in his speech. “Does anyone believe that this is Ohio’s majority view, that that should not be able to be dealt with, or in any other state in the nation? A 10-year-old girl should be forced to give birth to a rapist’s child? I can tell you what, I don’t. I can’t think of anything that’s much more extreme.”
But Biden also acknowledged there were limitations to what he could do, and a law professor agrees.
“There’s just not a lot that the president can do right now,” Mark Brown, Chair of Law at Capital University told our news partners at WBNS. “The order was anticipated, we expected it. It pretty much has in it what we figured he could put in it. It just doesn’t do much.”
Brown pointed to one argument that could make a potential impact on Ohioans — Biden wants to ensure access to the abortion pill, which has been federally approved.
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U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland already has issued a statement saying states cannot ban the FDA-approved Mifepristone, a medication used to end early pregnancy.
Brown said that Ohio’s argument is that you can’t take Mifepristone after six weeks of pregnancy due to the Heartbeat Bill, but someone could also make the argument that the pill was approved by the FDA prior to the bill being in place.
But this is a legal gray area, Brown said.
“We don’t have a clear answer on whether the federal FDA approval preempts Ohio law, so you’re taking your chances there, and I’m not sure that’s something you really want to do in Ohio,” he said.
WBNS reached out to Gov. Mike DeWine for comment, but did not receive a response.
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