In an article titled "Fact Check: Could Pregnant 10-Year-Old Girl Get an Abortion in Ohio?" Newsweek makes a false claim that a 10-year old rape victim had to travel to Indiana for an abortion due to Ohio's "6-week ban" on abortion.
Newsweek presents the claim of it's fact check as:
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, claimed that an unnamed 10-year-old who crossed into Indiana for an abortion, "did not have to leave Ohio to find treatment."
The news outlet ultimately decides that the Yost statement is "false" and Ohio law prevented the 10-year old from having an abortion in Ohio.
The 10-year old, whose name has not been released, was allegedly raped by 27-year-old Gerson Fuentes who has been arrested and charged with the crime against the victim.
The article first admits that the minor was 6-weeks pregnant and this would have been within the laws legal boundary.
Crucially, the 10-year-old was, according to Indiana state officials, six weeks pregnant at the time the procedure was carried out, so would have been at the upper end of Ohio's legal limit.
The article then counters with:
Even if the patient had approached services within the fetal heartbeat limit, Ohio state law still makes accessing abortion difficult.
Additionally, Newsweek doubts Ohio exemptions of preventing "... the patient's death or 'a serious risk of the substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function.' " would be applicable since the young girl was not at "serious risk of death" and further 10-year olds giving birth is not abnormal enough to constitute a "medical emergency":
One might consider that a 10-year-old giving birth constituted a medical emergency. However, government statistics show that, while not commonplace, cases of 10-year-olds giving birth occur across the United States every year.
They attempt to strengthen "normalcy" further by increasing the age range from 10 to 14 and offering another news article (they called a "report") which states a vague number of around 2200 births in 2016.
They conclude that "With all of this brought together, it seems unlikely an abortion would have been accessible.".
The Experts
Newsweek then brings out the "experts", in particular, Jessie Hill, a professor of law and associate dean at Case Western Reserve University, Ohio, who, according to Newsweek, specializes in the "State of Reproductive Rights in Ohio & Beyond".
Professor Hill said, "I think Yost is absolutely incorrect", among other statements and explanations.
They also mention several other "experts" and their statements such as Elizabeth Nash of the Guttmacher Institute who said that claiming the victim could have had an abortion was "disingenuous and cruel.", and political journalist Chris Geidner who said that "Ohio's abortion prohibition applies regardless of the circumstances or the age of the mother." which was reported from a letter from Amy Archer of the Ohio Legislative Service Commission.
The latter was also reported by the Washington Post who also claims Yost is wrong in their version of the same fact check in an article titled "What Ohio abortion law says about a 10-year-old rape victim".
Based on the foregoing, Newsweek ultimately decides the claim was false, however, it is Newsweeks claim is the false claim. The Washington Post, USA Today, ABC News, NBC News, and others also make this same false claim based on the same "expert" quotes and premise.
False Claim
Ohio's so-called "abortion ban" is not a ban, it restricts practitioners from performing abortions on pregnant woman when a "fetal heartbeat" can be detected. The key word being "woman".
Senate bill, S. B. No. 23, which passed to amend (and add to) several sections of Ohio's abortion laws, does indeed introduce several restrictions on practitioners, however, these all apply to "pregnant women", not minor children.
The definition of "woman" is "an adult female" according to Merriam-Webster, Cambrigde, Oxford, Collins, and just about every other version of dictionary available on planet Earth including online resources such as Dictionary.com and Wikipedia.
S.B. No. 23 does not even mention minors with the exception of Sec. 4731.22 (48) which is related to contraceptives.
Furthermore, minor (child) abortions are regulated in Section 2919.121 (Unlawful abortion upon minor) and Section 2919.121 (B)(1)(a) and these sections are not amended with S.B. No. 23.
Under these regulations, there are an entirely different set of restrictions on minor abortions which require emancipation and consent, parental consent, or a court order under which a court determines an abortion is in the best interest of the minor child.
While it could be argued that a 16 or 17 year old is an adult regarding application of the abortion law, a 10-year old is clearly a minor child, not a woman by any definition, and as such, the restrictions enacted by S.B. No 23 as amended are not applicable.
Regardless of gestation period or heartbeat detection, the victim could have indeed obtained an abortion in Ohio with both her, and at least one parent or guardian's consent. S.B. No. 23 does not amend any section of minor abortion nor does it mention, define, or otherwise designate any restriction as applicable to minor children. The law explicitly applies its applicability to "women".
As such, Newsweeks claim, like all others who made similar claims, is a false fact check.
Summary
Newsweek Fact Checkers make a false claim regarding minor children abortion access.
Claim: "Fact Check: Could Pregnant 10-Year-Old Girl Get an Abortion in Ohio?"
Fact Check Verdict: FALSE CLAIM
Claimant: Newsweek, USA Today, The Washington Post, NBC News, and others.
