My granddaughter is 10. Would heartless men force her to have a baby?

A horrific crime against an innocent 10-year-old Columbus area girl is in the center of the national debate about abortion.

The child traveled to Indiana to get an abortion after Ohio's so-called heartbeat ban kicked in when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

After the girl's accused attacker was charged and arrested last week, many Columbus Dispatch readers turned there outrage toward Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost for comments he made casting doubt on national TV about whether the girl was a real person.

More: Letters: Forcing a 10-year-old to have a baby could end her life in more than one way

More: Doctors: Attorney General's 'blatant denial of facts' victimized 10-year-old who was raped

U.S. Congressman Jim Jordan, R-Urbana, has also been criticized for a deleted Tweet calling the case a "lie." Jordan declined to apologize in an interview with CNN, saying he was responding to a headline.

Reader Ann Spicer of Columbus called Yost, Jordan and others heartless and cruel, if not downright evil. 

"My granddaughter is 10. She loves unicorns and dreamcatchers. She still believes in Santa Claus and the tooth fairy. She is a child.

More: Letters: My 10-year-old granddaughter is into unicorns. Ohio would force her to give birth

The Dave Yosts, Jim Jordans, Mike DeWines and "two wrongs don't make a right " J.D. Vances of the world think she should be forced to give birth if raped and subsequently found pregnant."

Reader Glenn Harmeyer of Hillard found blame with me over a column I wrote critical of Yost, Ohio's top prosecutor, for going on Fox News armed with clearly inaccurate information  to cast doubt on one of the most vile and sensitive types of cases police can investigate — child rape.

More: Shameful Dave Yost jumped in mud to doubt case of 10-year-old who got abortion | Robinson

"The story was confirmed, yet Robinson chose to focus on Yost's original questioning of the legitimacy of the reported story.

Where is her show of concern for the well-being of the 10-year-old girl; condemnation of the accused offender, Gerson Fuentes, who reportedly may be in the country illegally;  investigation of the history and background of Dr. Caitlin Bernard, who originally reported the story to the Indianapolis Star, and was reported to have performed the abortion on the 10-year-old girl; investigation of the truth and accuracy of President Joe Biden's statement when he so dramatically stated that the 10-year-old "was forced to have to travel out of state to Indiana to terminate the pregnancy and maybe save her life."

Dr. Marcela Azevedo, Dr. Lauren Beene, Dr. Stephanie Pope and the Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights wrote that they were appalled by Yost questioning the rape of a child in such a way.

"His statements are either disingenuous or ignorant of the law he supported, which has no such exceptions. 

Now, her rapist has been arrested and has confessed to the crime but this child was forced to leave her home state for basic medical care.  This horrifying situation is a direct consequence of our representatives enacting legislation from a place of misinformation and biased personal belief.

More: Doctors: Attorney General's 'blatant denial of facts' victimized 10-year-old who was raped

Even though one in four women will have an abortion in their lifetime, the topic is stigmatized and politicized. As in this case, there were more than 50 abortions for children 14 and under in the state of Ohio in 2020."

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR YOU MAY HAVE MISSED

More: Letters: Fox News host has 'no moral authority' to lecture Kenyans about women's rights

More: Letters: 'Spare me the colorful bombs bursting in air over the land of the free.'

More: Letters: You'd be better off slinging sliders than substitute teaching for Columbus schools

What's on your mind?

Let me know your thoughts on the topics mentioned above or any others in a letter to the editor of 200 words or less emailed to Letters@Dispatch.com.

Include your name, address and daytime phone number. The address and number are needed for verification and won't be published.

If someone sent you this email, make sure you subscribe to this newsletter to never miss the Conversation. 

More: How to submit a letter to the editor for The Columbus Dispatch

And while I am at it, join the Columbus Dispatch Conversation Facebook group.

It is a place to share in meaningful discussions.

Please consider subscribing to this newsletter if you are not already.

Thanks for reading,

Amelia

Email: arobinson2@dispatch.com

Twitter: @1AmeliaRobinson

Facebook: Amelia Robinson 

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: My granddaughter is 10. Would Ohio force her to have a baby?