Dave Yost is Disgusting
July 14, 2022
“Mike DeWine, Dave Yost, Jim Jordan and other Ohio Republicans are disgusting and disgraceful; callous, careless and cruel”
Columbus, OH — Mere hours after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Dave Yost rushed as fast as he could to implement Ohio’s six-week abortion ban, one of the most extreme in the country with no exceptions for rape or incest. Then days later, after news broke of a terrible tragedy involving the rape of a 10-year-old girl who was forced to leave the state to get an abortion because of the abortion ban, Yost’s response was to question her story. Now, after the story was confirmed and the perpetrator has been arrested, Yost refuses to apologize and is only doubling down on his support for a law that punishes women and girls and prevents them from getting the healthcare they need, even under the most tragic of circumstances.
“Dave Yost’s depravity knows no bounds. He couldn’t wait to implement a law that would prevent women and girls from getting critical reproductive care and then when that law further victimized a 10-year-old rape victim, he rushed to national tv to question her story. Yost should be ashamed of himself, but clearly he has no shame,” said Ohio Democratic Party spokesperson Matt Keyes.
See more coverage below of Yost’s callous response to a horrific tragedy:
David DeWitt
“Republican Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost went on Fox News Monday to raise further doubts. He said he works closely with law enforcement authorities and he’d gotten “not a whisper” about the case.
“It’s incredibly disturbing that the default position of so many sick and twisted people — including Ohio’s most prominent Republican elected officials — is to very vocally and very publicly question whether the rape and impregnation of a 10-year-old child ever happened.
“Yost offered no correction, no apology, and showed no contrition for going on national television to try to erase the lived experience of a child rape victim.
“DeWine, Yost, and other Ohio Republicans hurt a traumatized child once by forcing her to flee the state in order to receive health care; then they hurt her again by peddling propaganda erasing her; now they’re hurting her a third time by refusing to acknowledge and apologize for their actions.
“These powerful Ohio Republican politicians have thoroughly and completely shed themselves of any sense of shame or conscience. They’re disgusting and disgraceful; callous, careless and cruel.”
Laura Bischoff
“Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost appeared on Fox News this week, casting doubt on the veracity of Dr. Caitlin Bernard’s account that a 10-year-old Ohio rape victim needed to travel to Indiana for an abortion.
“Yost, a Republican, doubled down on that in an interview with the USA TODAY Network Ohio bureau on Tuesday.
‘Every day that goes by the more likely that this is a fabrication. I know the cops and prosecutors in this state. There’s not one of them that wouldn’t be turning over every rock, looking for this guy and they would have charged him,’ he said. ‘I’m not saying it could not have happened. What I’m saying to you is there is not a damn scintilla of evidence. And shame on the Indianapolis paper that ran this thing on a single source who has an obvious axe to grind.’
…
“The same day that the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Yost went to federal court to lift a stay on an Ohio law that bans abortion once fetal cardiac activity can be detected, usually about six weeks into a pregnancy.
“Democrat Jeff Crossman, Yost’s opponent in the AG’s race, said the attorney general misrepresented the law and that the exceptions are so narrowly tailored that doctors will be reluctant to risk a felony charge and losing their medical licenses. ‘He doesn’t care about the facts.’
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Jennifer Rubin
“The shame was his. After the alleged rapist was arrested on Tuesday, I reached out to Yost’s office to see if he would apologize for his comments. He did not respond.
“As a preliminary matter, it is grossly inappropriate — and arguably a violation of prosecutors’ code of ethics — to publicly (and with zero basis) demean a victim’s account. The American Bar Association rules state: ‘The prosecutor should not make, cause to be made, or authorize or condone the making of, a public statement that the prosecutor knows or reasonably should know will have a substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing a criminal proceeding or heightening public condemnation of the accused.’
“In the case of sexual violence, Yost’s conduct is especially egregious given the aversion that many victims already feel about going to law enforcement. And in the case of a child, it is nothing short of barbaric. Yost’s remarks could encourage abusers to tell their victims, ‘No one’s going to believe you.’
“The entire episode should underscore the forced-birth cohort’s monstrous dehumanization of women. They do not trust women, their families, doctors or clergy to make decisions that involve serious risks of mental and emotional harm. These politicians would deny women and girls the autonomy to make life decisions that will have life-changing consequences for them and their families.
“If there were ever an advertisement against allowing politicians to override intimate health decisions of women and girls, this is it.”
Sabrina Eaton
“On Monday, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost publicly questioned the existence of a 10-year-old rape victim who had left the state for an abortion. Yost, a former journalist, told FoxNews his office hadn’t heard ‘a whisper, anywhere’ about the case from prosecutors and police in Ohio, and the state’s crime lab hadn’t been called upon to analyze evidence.
“Yost took a different tack Wednesday after police announced the arrest of a 27-year-old Columbus man accused of impregnating the girl whose case became the focus of national interest as states, including Ohio, impose stringent abortion restrictions in the wake of a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allows them to do so.
“[T]he Democratic Party’s candidate for attorney general, State Rep. Jeff Crossman of Parma, issued a statement that said Yost should be ‘ashamed – not only for calling a 10-year-old rape victim a liar but for helping to create the circumstances that prevented her from getting the critical healthcare she needed in the first place.’”
WBNS-TV: Columbus man charged in rape of 10-year-old girl who traveled to Indiana for abortion
Lindsay Mills
“After the victim’s story appeared in The Indianapolis Star, many questioned its legitimacy including Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost.
“During an appearance on Fox News, Yost said the story was being used as a political weapon and the victim could have had an abortion in Ohio.
“In response to Yost’s comments, Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters said there is no exception for rape or incest under the new law.
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“Yost does not believe he casted doubt too early when the investigation was not yet complete.”
Amelia Robinson
“Yet as unsubstantiated doubts from unconvinced pro-lifers and media-hating political camps swirled on social media and broadcast news, Yost appeared on FOX News to proclaim that there was not “a whisper anywhere” of a 10-year-old Ohio girl that a doctor told a journalist was taken to Indiana for an abortion.
“[Yost] doubled down when interviewed by the USA TODAY Network Ohio bureau on Tuesday, saying it looked more and more like a fabricated story with every day that passed.
“Turns out that it is really shame on Dave Yost. He clearly does not “know the cops and prosecutors in this state” as well as he thinks he does.
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“One can only speculate why Yost — armed with clearly inaccurate information — jumped in the mud with political hacks, fame-seeking trolls and Fox ‘news’ fakers casting doubt on a case that has always been in the regime of possibility.
“There is nothing wrong with questioning the media — it is to be expected — but have your facts right before you do — particularly if you are Ohio’s top prosecutor and know intimately how complex and vile child sex abuse cases are.
“Dave Yost should be above backstroking in the sickening layer of mud far too many willingly create.”
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