On Dobbs Anniversary, Sherrod Discusses Stakes of Election, Fight To Protect Abortion Rights

COLUMBUS, OH – Yesterday, Sherrod Brown and Connie Schultz joined women’s rights activist and writer Gloria Steinem, Issue 1 Leader Kellie Copeland, and Ohioan Katie May for a Zoom press conference to mark the two-year anniversary of the Dobbs v. Jackson Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade to discuss the stakes of abortion rights this election.

While Sherrod stands with the majority of Ohioans who believe a woman’s healthcare decision should be between her and her doctor, Bernie Moreno supports overturning the will of Ohioans with a national abortion ban and has said he’s “100% pro-life with no exceptions.”

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Ohio Capital Journal: On Dobbs Anniversary, Ohio Democrats warn reproductive rights remains a major issue
Nick Evans – June 25, 2024

Bernie Moreno, Ohio’s GOP nominee for the U.S. Senate, has wrestled with the [abortion] issue as well. As a U.S. Senate candidate in 2022, he described himself as “100% pro-life with no exceptions.”
Dobbs was two years ago, and since then, Ohioans have added reproductive rights protections to the state constitution by a convincing margin. While Republicans tie themselves in knots over the issue, Democrats have to decide if it remains salient enough to drive voters to the polls.
To U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-OH, the answer is an emphatic yes.
“The fight is still on,” he said in a Monday press conference. “The energy from last fall will continue into this year and beyond, in this race and Supreme Court races and others.”
Brown and Schultz were joined at the press conference by Gloria Steinem. The leader of second-wave feminism – and as Brown was quick to note, Toledo native – argued questions of bodily autonomy are “at least as basic as freedom of speech or freedom of assembly.”
“It is fundamental to every democracy that we — all women and men — are able to have bodily integrity,” she argued.
Brown sought to tie Moreno directly to the campaign against Ohio’s reproductive rights amendment, criticizing him for contributing to the campaign against Issue 1.
“You have a candidate that is arrogant enough to say, well, yeah, I might have tried to defeat Issue 1 — I gave $100,000 — and even though the voters decided, I’m still for a national abortion ban,” Brown said.
A woman named Katie May spoke at the press conference, telling the story of her experience in 2022, when she and her husband were thrilled to be pregnant. But not long after the Dobbs decision, they learned she’d had a missed miscarriage.
“I love being a parent, and I want more kids in the future, but I’m at high risk for future miscarriages,” she said. “With abortion bans and without access to the appropriate health care options, trying to get pregnant again would be significantly risking my life.”

WRGT: Sherrod Discusses Fighting For Abortion Rights On The Anniversary Of The Dobbs Decisions

WRGT: “[Sherrod] Brown emphasized the importance of Ohioans having the right to reproductive care and voting in the November election.”

Sherrod: “Ohio women understand the stakes in this election, the choice ahead of them. They know I will always support a woman’s right to choose, that those decisions should be made by the woman and her family and her healthcare provider – not by a bunch of politicians in Columbus or Washington.”

WRGT: “Now, Brown is up for reelection in November and he says if he stays in office, he will continue to fight for women’s right to choose in Ohio and across the nation.”

Statehouse News Bureau: Abortion still hot issue in Ohio two years after Roe v. Wade was overturned
Jo Ingles – June 24, 2024

On the anniversary of the contentious ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, proponents of abortion rights spoke to reporters about the continued importance of the issue in a call organized by Ohio Democrats. They included author and women’s rights activist Gloria Steinem, who said it’s up to women to vote for people who will protect abortion rights.
“We are responsible for and subject to the fundamental right to decide our own bodily integrity. It is, it is up to us. It is as basic, at least as basic, as freedom of speech or freedom of assembly,” Steinem said.
U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) was on the call too. He said there is a big difference between him and his Republican opponent Bernie Moreno when it comes to reproductive rights.
Brown said he thinks most Ohioans want reproductive rights. And to prove it, he pointed to last November’s vote on Issue 1, a constitutional amendment to guarantee abortion, birth control, IVF, and other reproductive rights. Brown noted Ohio voters passed it by 57%.
Moreno opposed Issue 1 last fall. He hasn’t been talking much about abortion lately though he has been supportive of anti-abortion causes in the past.

WBNS: Sherrod And Women’s Rights Activist Gloria Steinem Mark The Anniversary Of The Dobbs Decision

WBNS: “Today, Senator Sherrod Brown and women’s rights activist Gloria Steinem hosted an event to talk about the change in abortion rights since the Dobbs ruling.”

Gloria Steinem: “It is fundamental to every democracy that we all, women and men, are able to have bodily integrity and I am so proud of my home in Toledo for standing up for this.”

Spectrum News: Two years after Dobbs, Ohio Democrats hope to use abortion rights issues to their advantage in Senate election
Harri Leigh – June 24, 2024

In 2023 Ohio voters approved an amendment to state constitution enshrining the right to an abortion up to fetal viability, considered to be between 21 and 22 weeks of pregnancy.
Yet Dr. Lavin and other members of Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights warned in a recent press call that the state’s protections would be at risk if Congress were to pass a national abortion ban. Lavin said that would become more likely if Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno were to get elected to the Senate.
“Bernie Moreno is helping lead the threat against that. And it really working so hard to return us to the days in which doctors in Ohio were prevented from caring for people,” Lavin said.
Moreno was recently endorsed by Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, a group that opposes abortion rights.
“Many people running for office in this state and nationally want a national abortion ban. And they’re clearly not going to stop with just abortion. That’s really, really, really clear,” [Sherrod] Brown said during a recent press call.

Toledo Blade: On the anniversary of the Dobbs decision, voters still motivated by abortion access
Alice Momany – June 24, 2024

“I think women and men around the state are going to speak even more emphatically this year about the arrogance of politicians trying to [overturn Issue 1],” Mr. Brown said. “Abortion rights are on the ballot in that sense, and we will make clear that it is.”
Mr. Brown will be up for re-election in November against Cleveland businessman, Republican Bernie Moreno. Last year, Mr. Moreno called the Dobbs decision a “monumental victory” on X, formally known as Twitter…
Before Issue 1 was on the ballot last November, Mr. Moreno’s auto dealer corporation, M Motors Group Inc., contributed $100,000 to the Protect Women Ohio Fund, an anti-abortion rights group.
In the Senate, Mr. Brown has supported legislation that increases accessibility to reproductive health care and contraception.
“I will always support a woman’s right to choose,” Mr. Brown said. “Those decisions should be made by the woman and her family and health care provider, not by a bunch of politicians in Columbus or Washington.”

WLWT: Congressional Democrats push for abortion rights on anniversary of Roe v. Wade overturned
Emily Sanderson – June 24, 2024

Ohio U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown is looking to defend his seat against Republican Bernie Moreno in the fall.
Brown says he’s the only choice to allow women and doctors to make their own health care decisions.
“The six-week ban went into effect before the sunset, and patients who had appointments the next day had to be called and told that doctors could not help them,” Kellie Copeland with Abortion Forward said.

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Cleveland.com: Capitol Letter

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