Republicans Just Can’t Help Themselves
August 2, 2022
Columbus, OH — Make no mistake, reproductive rights are on the ballot just 98 days from today. Since the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, Republicans across Ohio have proven time and time again that they’re too extreme for Ohio – from comparing abortion to slavery to questioning a ten-year-old rape victim, GOP politicians in this state are showing their true colors and saying the quiet part out loud when it comes to attacking women. Rather than try to tell you how radical they are, we thought we’d just let their words speak for themselves.
J.D. Vance’s disgusting comments on Roe v. Wade and abortion:
- “Hope the news of the leaked opinion is true. Would be an amazing victory for the pro life movement and, most importantly, the innocents we fight for.” [Twitter: May 2, 2022]
- “When asked during a local interview whether abortion laws should include exceptions for rape and incest, Vance, a Republican, said he thinks ‘two wrong don’t make a right.’“‘It’s not whether a woman should be forced to bring a child to term, it’s whether a child should be allowed to live, even though the circumstances of that child’s birth are somehow inconvenient or a problem to the society,’ Vance told Spectrum News in Columbus on Wednesday.” [Washington Post: September 24, 2021]
- “There’s something comparable between abortion and slavery, and that while the people who obviously suffer the most are those subjected to it, I think it has this morally distorting effect on the entire society.” [Vice News: July 7, 2022]
Dave Yost’s questioning of a 10-year-old rape victim who had to travel to Indiana for critical healthcare because of the six-week abortion ban Yost helped implement:
- Jesse Walters, Fox News: “So Dave, have you had anybody come to you in your state to say we’re looking into this, a police report was filed? Dave Yost: “Not a whisper and we work closely with the- we have a decentralized law enforcement system in Ohio. But, we have regular contact with prosecutors and local police and sheriffs. Not a whisper anywhere. [Fox News: July 11, 2022]
- “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. 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.” [Gannett News: July 13, 2022]
- “I never apologize for the truth, and I stand by everything I said.” [Cleveland.com: July 22, 2022]
Justice Pat Fischer joining J.D. in comparing abortion to slavery:
- “Ladies and gentlemen, do you know what substantive due process is? It would take me hours to go into it,” [Fischer] said. “But you know what it’s the basis for? The Dred Scott decision. Not good. It’s the basis for Plessy v. Ferguson. Not good. And it was the basis for Roe v. Wade.” [Cleveland.com: July 29, 2022]
Mike DeWine’s promises to ‘go as far as we can’ to rip away reproductive rights:
- “‘If Roe is overturned, all it means is it comes back to each state and you still have a situation today as you know, where more and more abortions are taking place. Not surgical abortions, they’re taking place because of pills,’ DeWine said in the call on Friday. ‘Those options are still going to be out there for people one way or the other…You’re also going to have people traveling to other states.’”
- “He also noted that when lawmakers return to Columbus in November, they’ll discuss ‘how we want to craft that legislation to go as far as we can to protect human life based upon whatever that decision is.’” [Gannett News: June 17, 2022]
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