In the month since Roe v. Wade was overturned by the radically partisan U.S. Supreme Court, we’ve seen a stunning escalation of attacks on reproductive rights, years of “Oh, we don’t have any plans to go there,” compressed into a few weeks of “going there.”
Just a month ago, letting women die rather than be treated for pregnancy complications, charging doctors and women with felonies involving huge fines and prison time, and tracking women to make sure they weren’t crossing state lines for abortions weren’t being openly discussed. Pro-choice advocates who brought up such possibilities were accused of being alarmists. Many Republicans are now openly saying — right after the Supreme Court piously assured us that it wasn’t stripping women of their rights but only leaving it to the states — that there should be a national abortion ban — no sanctuary, anywhere. A mere few weeks have proved they weren’t. The GOP in Idaho just voted to endorse a measure to ban abortion with no exceptions, not even for the mother’s life.
Expect more of the same. It’s like the anti-choice brigade has become drunk on their unexpected success and is ready to go for it all right NOW — making Margaret Atwood’s Gilead a reality right after the next election. (Please vote a straight Democratic ticket if you don’t want this to happen.)
One person caught in the headlights is Ohio attorney general Dave Yost. He’s revealed his opportunism and dishonesty many times, such as his repeated votes for unconstitutionally gerrymandered maps as a member of Ohio’s redistricting commission. But his response to the overturning of Roe and his frantic dashing for cover places him in a whole new league.
Less than an hour after Roe was overturned, he filed to lift the stay on Ohio’s so-called “Heartbeat Bill,” banning abortion after six weeks. When they story broke of the 10-year-old rape victim forced to go out of state for an abortion because she was six weeks and three days pregnant, that was inconvenient for him, exposing him to charges of depraved cruelty, so he dubbed the story a “fabrication” to try to make it go away. When the story was confirmed, he just acted like he never said it.
The state’s attorney general has a lot of influence over what gets prosecuted and what doesn’t; many county prosecutors are already saying they won’t waste their time going after women who have abortions. But Dave Yost is clearly licking his chops to do so. We could probably count on Yost, if reelected in November, to make things scary for doctors afraid of losing their licenses and even going to prison. Democratic AG candidate Jeffrey Crossman has promised to do everything he legally can to protect women’s lives & choices.
“We have no real leadership in the Attorney General’s office right now,” says Crossman, accurately. “We need someone willing to believe victims and take steps to support survivors instead of criticizing them. As your next Attorney General, I promise to support women, survivors, and reproductive freedom.”
Crossman has said that as AG he will:
Provide accurate information for Ohioans on their legal rights related to reproductive care, including providing out of state resources should people seek to travel to secure the medical care they need.
Protect the privacy of patients, including patient/doctor confidentiality and cyber privacy from government overreach.
Support the effort to obtain a reproductive healthcare amendment to the Ohio Constitution.
In addition, attorneys general are key to protecting election and voting rights — including in the presidential election of 2024. Yost’s support of gerrymandered maps reveals clearly what he thinks about fair elections. And in 2020, he joined a Trump (ultimately failed) lawsuit against the attorney general of Pennsylvania, seeking to have ballots thrown out in that state to stir up confusion and doubt. He spent our tax money doing this.
Vote for Jeffrey Crossman. He’s the right choice on November 8.
Help get out the vote! Find out who’s on the ballot and register to vote if you haven’t already done by googling “board of elections” and your country name. Go here for the Cuyahoga County BOE.
One Response to “ENDORSEMENT: Jeffrey Crossman for Ohio Attorney General”
Penny Jeffrey
Remember when you vote in November that NO state-wide Republican office holders disagreed with their partisan gerrymandering, which was in violation of the state constitution. All the Republican legislators voted for the gerrymandering as well.