Letters: Forcing a 10-year-old to have a baby could end her life in more than one way
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Note from Opinion Editor Amelia Robinson: A 27-year-old Columbus man has been charged with raping a 10-year-old girl who traveled to Indiana to get an abortion.
Ohio's so-called heartbeat ban kicked in after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
We asked readers for their thought. Below are a selection of submitted letters to the editor.
MORE LETTERS HERE: ‘Inner beast' behind Yost's rush to judge innocent girl's case
More: How to submit guest opinion columns to the Columbus Dispatch
Take your blinders off, there a lot of ways to lose 'life'
Thank goodness an arrest has been made in the rape of an Ohio girl that led to Indiana abortion.
Thank goodness she was able to get medical care in Indiana and not have to go through a pregnancy and delivery.
For so many reasons, I am furious about the Ohio Legislature’s plan to outlaw all abortions with the possible exception to save the life of the mother.
More: 10-year-old travels to Indiana for abortion and Columbus man arrested: Here's what we know
But for now, I think of the other little girls who might be raped and get pregnant by incest and will have no place to go for an abortion.
Does the pregnant child have to be dying or in danger of dying to get an abortion? Is physically saving a life the only thing that counts?
More: Ohio lawmakers introduce bill banning abortion at conception unless mother's life at risk
Little girls forced to go through childbirth will lose their lives.
Maybe physically, maybe not.
But surely, they will lose their childhoods (and isn’t that life?) and carry that trauma into a diminished adulthood. Forced to be mothers before they grow up.
Abhorrent.
More: Do 10-year-olds meet 'life of mother' abortion exemptions? Ohio lawmakers, doctors divided
Republican state legislators, take your blinders off and see what the consequences of your narrow-mindedness will do.
Leslie Robinson, Upper Arlington
More: Shameful Dave Yost jumped in mud to doubt case of 10-year-old who got abortion | Robinson
'No evidence' Yost cares about facts
I was not surprised to see Jim Jordan spread disinformation, but I was taken aback to read that David Yost had.
I would expect the attorney general to be well-informed before going on Fox News and label as fake news, the story about a 10-year-old Ohio rape victim having to go to Indiana for an abortion.
More: Ohio AG Dave Yost cast doubt on 10-year-old rape victim case, now 'rejoices' at arrest
He asserted that there was no evidence of the kind of investigation that would be triggered by such an event. Either Yost does not care about verifying his facts before going on a national news show or he does not know how to locate such evidence.
More: Doctors: Attorney General's 'blatant denial of facts' victimized 10-year-old who was raped
In either case, David Yost is not fit to be Ohio’s attorney general because an investigation was not only underway but advanced. (Days after Yost appeared on Fox), the alleged rapist was in custody.
As of Thursday, I have yet to read that David Yost has explained his error or apologized for spreading disinformation.
Barbara Haeger, Columbus
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Not fit to serve
Dave Yost and Jim Jordan are unfit for their respective offices.
Emily Prieto, Columbus
Doctors are not villains
Dave Yost's actions — calling into question the validity of the 10-year-old rape victim's claims, as well as the integrity and intention of the physicians who were trying to help this victim (which, by the way, is his job as attorney general) are not only irresponsible and inexcusable, but are also an intentional denial of the horrors women are facing living in a landscape that Yost, himself, helped to create.
More: Do 10-year-olds meet 'life of mother' abortion exemptions? Ohio lawmakers, doctors divided
Furthermore, to claim that the physician in this case had an "axe to grind" when clearly it was Yost who used his platform and authority as a grindstone only highlights the recklessness our state leadership is showing towards this very serious issue.
More: It's Necessary: Yost puts his foot in mouth by doubting case of 10-year-old rape victim
Physicians are not villains, nor are they criminals; and the State of Ohio has now placed them in the impossible position of being held civilly liable for not following the standard of care or being held criminally liable for following it.
When physicians hesitate, women suffer.
When politicians speak with intent to mislead, legislate without the input of experts, and ignore reality, we all suffer.
Dr. Jason Melillo, Powell
God help the little traumatized girl
There is no way to excuse the attorney general and a congressional representative of our state Ohio from responsibility for proclaiming the rape, impregnating and subsequent Indiana abortion a hoax.
They suggested a political ploy by the unscrupulous pro-choice faction.
They doubted. They doubted loudly. There is no way to make their words less heinous.
There is no way to avoid that they jumped enthusiastically to conclusions that suited their political narrative.
God help us!
God help the little traumatized girl.
What a comment on fake news.
Judith Lubbers, Logan
Yost just got 'snuffed'
So David Yost accused Joe Biden and other progressive Democrats of scoring cheap political points about the story of a 10-year-old getting an abortion in Indiana.
Yost goes on to try and score his own cheap political points by suggesting the story was a fabrication on his favorite station, you know the one that never questions a Republican talking point, Fox News.
More: Indiana Dr. Caitlin Bernard reported 10-year-old Ohio girl's abortion, records show
He said he and his office work closely with all of Ohio's investigators and prosecutors and hadn't heard a scintilla of evidence.
Just a day or two later the story is sadly confirmed with an arrest and making it look like Yost and his office aren't quite as close to Ohio's law enforcement after all.
Using a common basketball reference I'd say, AG Yost, you just got snuffed!
Mark Shaw, Sunbury
What was so urgent and necessary?
It is hard to imagine any responsible adult, let alone our Ohio Attorney General David Yost, rushing to make not just one but two public appearances to question the veracity of the tragic fact of our little (then) 9-year-old girl, a citizen of Franklin County, being raped, becoming pregnant and having to be taken to Indianapolis for an urgent abortion procedure by age 10.
More: Ohio banned abortion after 6 weeks. What other bills are lawmakers working on?
He was disturbingly wrong. Within days the rapist was arrested and confessed. Hopefully the little girl will heal.
Dave Yost, what was so urgent and necessary?
Could it be seeking to absolve your conscience for supporting Ohio abortion laws with no exception for rape - even of a child?
Randal Morrison, Columbus
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Letters: What are Ohioans saying about Jim Jordan, Dave Yost
