BROWN MEETS WITH ADVOCATES, PROVIDERS TO DISCUSS IMPACT OF SUPREME COURT DECISION, OHIO LEGISLATURE ON ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE FOR OHIOANS

Press Release

Today, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) joined advocates and providers at Trinity Commons in Cleveland for a roundtable discussion on reproductive rights less than three weeks after Roe v. Wade was overturned and Ohio's six-week abortion ban law went into effect. Brown heard from those caregivers about how he can support them, and Ohioans who can no longer access essential health care in Ohio.

"Just a few weeks ago, the Supreme Court took us back nearly 50 years and is currently threatening other decisions that undermine our freedom to decide when, whether, and how we have a family," said Brown. "We've already seen how this is putting the health of Ohio women and girls at risk, and creating confusion for doctors and health care professionals who want to do right by their patients. Forcing women to travel around the country to get vital, sometimes lifesaving, health care is not a solution."

On June 24, the conservative wing of the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and its nearly 50 years of precedent. In the days following the ruling, Brown and 32 Senate colleagues sent a letter to President Joe Biden urging "bold action" to protect the right to abortion. The letter came as 22 states have laws in place to ban or severely restrict access to abortion that were triggered by the court's decision, including a law in Ohio that bans abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected without any exceptions for rape or incest. Last Friday, Biden issued an executive order that aims to protect access to reproductive health care services.

"Trinity Cathedral is grateful to host this important conversation between Senator Brown and leaders from the health care and faith communities as we work to find a way forward and support those most impacted by the Dobbs decision," said Reverend Bernard J. Owens, Dean of Trinity Cathedral in Cleveland. "The Episcopal Church believes that equitable access to women's health care, including reproductive care, is an integral part of a woman's struggle to assert her dignity, and recognizes from broad experience that inequitable access to abortion falls especially hard on poor and marginalized communities. We believe that honoring the moral value of all life means supporting women as they seek to reach an informed decision regarding abortion; we are unequivocally opposed to government action that abridges a woman's right to make that decision and to act upon it."

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