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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.
OH Rep. Schmidt (R) on her abortion ban bill: "Rape is a difficult issue... but if a baby is created, it's human life. Whether that mother ends that pregnancy... the scars won't go away. It's a shame it happens, but there's an opportunity for women no matter how young or old..."pic.twitter.com/PVOHWlFvPq— Heartland Signal (@Heartland Signal) 1651082260
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.
Misogyny perpetuated by women to raise up and protect their men . The ultimate rape culture - women should be thankful for the opportunity.OH Vote HER outhttps://twitter.com/heartlandsignal/status/1519375241734197249\u00a0\u2026— theseeker (@theseeker) 1651348055
Here an elected republican and former member of Congress calls being raped "an opportunity" for the victim in defending another republican law to criminalize women's control over their own bodies.https://twitter.com/HeartlandSignal/status/1519375241734197249\u00a0\u2026— Bill Pascrell, Jr. \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Bill Pascrell, Jr. \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1651258201
if you're in an accident and need a life-saving blood transfusion, the government cannot force someone else to give blood without their consent. that's how seriously we take bodily autonomy.\n\nand yet extremist right-wing legislatures want a say in what women do with their bodies:https://twitter.com/HeartlandSignal/status/1519375241734197249\u00a0\u2026— McKenzie Wilson (@McKenzie Wilson) 1651269335
We're not doing this. No. This woman will be first in line to ban the morning after pill, IUDs and other birth control and we're not going to go this again.https://twitter.com/HeartlandSignal/status/1519375241734197249\u00a0\u2026— Abigail Gardner (@Abigail Gardner) 1651182023
What if, instead, we reframe our efforts toward preventing rape...think about how we can raise boys NOT to rape, rather than raise girls to live in fear.\n#ViolenceAgainstWomenhttps://twitter.com/HeartlandSignal/status/1519375241734197249\u00a0\u2026— \ud83c\udf37Annie C\ud83c\udf37\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@\ud83c\udf37Annie C\ud83c\udf37\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1651185492
If it happened to her daughter or granddaughter would she see it as an opportunity for them as well?https://twitter.com/HeartlandSignal/status/1519375241734197249\u00a0\u2026— Denise Haynes\ud83d\uddfd\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83d\udc18\ud83c\udf3b\ud83e\udd92\ud83d\udc0b\ud83c\udf0a (@Denise Haynes\ud83d\uddfd\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83d\udc18\ud83c\udf3b\ud83e\udd92\ud83d\udc0b\ud83c\udf0a) 1651194562
This right here is what keeps me awake at night, this is what the GQP has morphed into and they want to push these Christofascist ideals on all of us. There is a reason the founding fathers were adamant about separation of church and state.\n#VoteBlueIn2022 #wtpBlue #DemsActhttps://twitter.com/heartlandsignal/status/1519375241734197249\u00a0\u2026— Brian Cardone \ud83c\udff4\u200d\u2620\ufe0f\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Brian Cardone \ud83c\udff4\u200d\u2620\ufe0f\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1651242482
How many children have Anti-abortionists adopted? Right now in TX, there\u2019s a CRISIS of neglect and abuse in TX\u2019s child care system, and that\u2019s true for other states. But you want to place a child in that system? That\u2019s monstrous and evil.https://twitter.com/HeartlandSignal/status/1519375241734197249\u00a0\u2026— H. Gossett (@H. Gossett) 1651174015
Had I gotten pregnant when I was raped and held hostage, being forced to carry and birth my rapist\u2019s baby at the age of 14 would not have been an \u201copportunity,\u201d and it\u2019s positively alarming that anyone would suggest as much.https://twitter.com/heartlandsignal/status/1519375241734197249\u00a0\u2026— Jennifer Urs Sullivan (@Jennifer Urs Sullivan) 1651178785
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.