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Laura Strietmann, the Executive Director of the Cincinnati Right To Life organization, had the internet bewildered and shocked during her testimony at the Ohio Statehouse Constitutional hearing on April 18.
The staunch pro-life advocate took to the podium to defend Ohio’s abortion limitation laws with an appalling speech where she condemned the abortion of a 10-year-old rape victim from Ohio. After the fall of Roe v. Wade in June 2022, the young child was forced to travel to Indiana for the procedure because the state does not provide protection for rape victims.
“While a pregnancy might have been difficult on a 10-year-old body, a woman’s body is designed to carry life. That is a biological fact,” Strietmann told the hearing committee with vigor and conviction. “It is not designed to have disgusting death instruments remove her pre-born child from her womb.”
Then, the pro-life Republican went on to share more misinformation about the rape victim’s case. Strietmann alleged that Dr. Caitlin Bernard, the Indiana doctor who performed the 10-year-old’s abortion, did not report the rape to authorities. But public records obtained by CNN show that Bernard did in fact report the incident and the procedure to the Indiana Department of Health.
One of the committee members called out Strietmann for lying and spreading “disinformation” about the victim’s incident.
Social media slams Strietmann for her pro-life speech
After the damning clip went viral on Twitter, social media users went in on the anti-abortion advocate for her disgraceful pro-life speech. Some users noted how “demented” and “evil” the Ohio native looked as she tried to disparage the 10-year-old’s life-saving abortion.
On Tuesday, Strietmann and several opponents gathered at the Statehouse to testify in favor of two bills that would block a statewide ballot initiative to enshrine abortion access, according to Dayton Daily News.
In order to pass, the abortion rights bill needs a 60 percent vote, but right-wing political influencers like Strietmann don’t want this to happen. If the ballot is blocked, grave consequences could lie ahead for Black women living in the state.
Black women have abortions at a higher rate.
In 2020, Black women accounted for more than half of the abortions performed in Ohio, according to the Ohio Department of Health. After Roe v. Wade was dismantled, the Heartbeat Bill was enacted into law, creating more barriers for Black women. The measure prohibits doctors from performing an abortion once the cardiac activity of the baby is detected. Cardiac detection occurs six weeks into a woman’s pregnancy when many women do not know they are pregnant. This shortens the window an individual would need to have the procedure done.
The issue rears its ugly head as Black women continue to face another difficult challenge in America, the maternal mortality crisis.
Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related issues like preeclampsia or underlying health conditions such as diabetes and hypertension. Structural racism and healthcare bias continue to fuel this dark reality.
We don’t know what Strietmann was on, but somebody needs to turn her damn mic off.
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