Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Ohio GOP Abortion Ban Bill Author Calls Pregnancy From Rape An 'Opportunity' In Speech

Ohio GOP Abortion Ban Bill Author Calls Pregnancy From Rape An 'Opportunity' In Speech
The Ohio Channel

Republican state Representative Jean Schmidt of Ohio, the author of a highly contentious anti-abortion measure that does not include exceptions in cases of rape or incest, was criticized after she argued a pregnancy from rape is actually an "opportunity" for a woman to raise a child, send them to live with a family member or put them up for adoption.

In her remarks before the Ohio House Government Oversight Committee last week, Schmidt suggested it would be wrong to abort a pregnancy because a hypothetical child might grow up to cure cancer.


Although she acknowledged that rape is "a difficult issue," Schmidt stressed that a fetus is a "human life" and that the trauma of rape "will not go away, period" whether a mother chooses to abort her pregnancy or not.

You can hear what she said in the video below.

Schmidt said:

“Rape is a difficult issue and it emotionally scars the individual, all or in part, for the rest of their life ― just as child abuse does. But if a baby is created, it is a human life and whether that mother ends that pregnancy or not the scars will not go away, period."
"It is a shame that it happens, but there’s an opportunity for that woman – no matter how young or old she is ― to make a determination about what she’s going to do to help that life be a productive human being."
"That child can grow up and be something magnificent, a wonderful family person, cure cancer, etc."
"This is not about keeping abortion alive, this is about keeping the mother alive, and just because you have emotional scars doesn’t give you the right to take a life.”

Schmidt's legislation, H.B. 598, is a trigger ban that would immediately criminalize abortion in Ohio in the event Roe v. Wade is successfully overturned, which many reproductive healthcare advocates expect will happen because of the 6–3 majority-conservative Supreme Court.

Many have criticized Schmidt in the wake of her remarks.




Schmidt's anti-abortion record is quite well known in her state.

She was once the president of the Greater Cincinatti chapter of the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), part of the oldest and largest national grassroots anti-abortion organization in the United States.

Schmidt sparked controversy in 2010 after she discussed abortion at a Catholic school where she was invited to be a guest speaker at an assembly attended by students from first through eighth grade, describing it as as an action that "involves the killing of a child before it is born" in a portion of her address.

More from Trending

Lorne Michaels
Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images

Lorne Michaels Just Explained The Thinking Behind His Big 'Saturday Night Live' Cast Shakeup

Saturday Night Live turned 50 last year and a lot of former cast members and major celebrities joined in the season long celebration, but it's a new year and it's time to get back to business.

Which, with SNL, usually means some cast changes—out with the old (and sometimes not so old) and in with the new. Show creator and producer Lorne Michaels recently announced SNL would return on October 4 with a literal handful—five—cast changes.

Keep ReadingShow less
Kari Lake; Charlie Kirk
Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images; Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Kari Lake Slammed After Warning Parents Not To Send Their Kids To College After Charlie Kirk Murder

Speaking during a memorial service for far-right activist Charlie Kirk at the Kennedy Center, failed Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake—now the Trump administration's Senior Advisor for the U.S. Agency for Global Media—called U.S. colleges “indoctrination camps” and urged parents not to send their children.

Lake ignored the fact that Kirk was killed while speaking at a college, in this case Utah Valley University (UVU), the largest university by enrollment in Utah.

Keep ReadingShow less
JD Vance; Charlie Kirk
Real America's Voice

Vance Claims Kirk Never Insulted Black Women's 'Brain Processing Power'—And Here Come The Receipts

Vice President JD Vance served as host of the late far-right activist Charlie Kirk's podcast this week and was called out after claiming Kirk "never uttered" words about the "brain processing power" of Black women—even though Kirk said as much in 2023.

Vance made the claim after Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah—a Black woman—said she was dismissed from the paper following social media posts on gun control and race after Kirk’s assassination.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Donald Trump
Fox News

Trump Swiftly Fact-Checked After Making Bonkers Claim About How Many Americans Died From Drugs Last Year

President Donald Trump was criticized after attempting to justify the bombing of a suspected Venezuelan drug boat by asserting that 300 million people died from drugs last year.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Trump was asked about the order he gave earlier this month to destroy a boat he suspected of transporting drugs off the coast of Venezuela, rather than simply intercepting it. All 11 people on board the boat were killed.

Keep ReadingShow less
A woman's hand hold up a pink paper constructed heart that is on fire.
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

People Reveal The Pettiest Reasons They Stopped Hooking Up With Someone

Sex is a powerful weapon and a natural part of life.

But it can bamboozle and surprise you.

Keep ReadingShow less