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Ohio state Rep. Jean Schmidt (R) speaks during a news conference on the new Health and Human Services Department abortion rule on Wednesday, March 21, 2012. (Photo: Bill Clark via Getty Images)
Ohio state Rep. Jean Schmidt (R) speaks during a news conference on the new Health and Human Services Department abortion rule on Wednesday, March 21, 2012. (Photo: Bill Clark via Getty Images)

The new Health and Human Services Department abortion rule was announced at a news conference on Wednesday. Bill Clark is pictured.

One Republican lawmaker from Ohio said that rape is not bad enough to warrant an abortion.

The anti-abortion measure was introduced in front of the Ohio House Government Oversight Committee. If the Supreme Court overturns the landmark decision that legalized abortion nationwide, the bill would ban all abortions in the state. Similar to other GOP anti-abortion measures flooding red states, thetrigger ban does not include exceptions for rape or incest.

The former U.S. congresswoman, who once discussed abortion with a class of elementary school students, defended her decision to not include these exceptions during committee debate. She said that a pregnant woman can raise a child, live with a family member or be put up for adoption. She argued that a hypothetical child could cure cancer.

Rape is a difficult issue and it emotionally scars the individual, all or in part, for the rest of their life. If a baby is created, it is a human life, and whether the mother ends that pregnancy or not, the scars will not go away.

It is a shame that it happens, but there is an opportunity for that woman to make a decision.

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 (@HeartlandSignal) April 27, 2022

The bill does include exceptions in cases where the pregnant person's life is at risk, but the definition of a deadly risk was up for interpretation during the committee debate.

Rep. Richard D. Brown had a hypothetical example of a 13-year-old girl who becomes pregnant after being raped by a family member.

You said earlier that every life is important. The life of a 13-year-old girl is important. You don't think that will scar that girl? I think this girl has the same rights as this person. You should add an abortion exception to this bill.

She told Brown that they disagree and that they shouldn't kill the child.

The Ohio lawmaker is not the only one who has introduced abortion bans with little to no exceptions. An upcoming Supreme Court decision that could overturn or gut the abortion rights of millions of women has galvanized abortion opponents. Many are preparing for a post-Roe world by introducing dozens of anti-abortion bills, the majority of which are actually becoming law.

Rape and incest exceptions are among the bills that are abandoning once-standard language. The thinking of the larger anti-abortion movement is in line with the reason for not including these exceptions.

At the end of the day, you have two individual human beings in the equation, and they are both worthy of our moral attention and legal protection. John Seago, legislative director at Texas Right to Life, told HuffPost in a conversation that includes the mother and child, that there are no exceptions in recent abortion measures.

It doesn't actually reverse the assault. Seago said that it doesn't actually reverse the crime.

Both Arizona and Florida recently passed 15-week abortion bans with no exceptions for rape or incest, and Oklahoma just passed a near-total abortion ban with no exceptions that would make performing an abortion a felony. There are no exceptions for rape or incest in the law that is currently threatening the Supreme Court.

The article was originally on HuffPost.

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